[yorkietalkjilly]

There is dog toothpaste at the pet store and small toothbrushes for small dogs and cats. Be sure it is soft bristled. Don't ever use human toothpaste but just the kind approved for dogs. It is usually food-flavored too and that helps them endure the brushing process. At first just put the toothpaste on a finger and "brush" it around on the teeth and then just slowly introduce the brush by touching it to a tooth one day, brushing once or twice day 2 and working up little by little that way until she will tolerate a full mouth brush. Don't brush hard and keep your sessions short at first until she is accepting of it - otherwise she will always hate it and fight. Work up slowly to full mouth brushing - that really is the only way to get them on board in a halfway happy mood. But a good vet check of the teeth and gums every 6 mos. is critical as you can't tell yourself necessarily if there is a problem or decay. Usually bad breath is an indicator but other things can cause that so a vet needs to check the mouth every 6 mos. or more frequently if your baby is one that is blessed with more oral bacteria than others.