Her daughter, on the other hand (does not live with me ... she's with friends), is two years younger than my Bea, has a yearly dental cleaning, HeartGuard and the whole program. Her coat is bad, she wheezes and coughs, and aside from being a lovely, affectionate little dog, seems older than mine.
Best regards,
g and bea
Just FYI, the tendency to develop tarter/pario is based more on the chemistry of their mouth than what they eat... (this is true for people also) My 14 year old Labrador has perfectly white tarter free teeth and healthy gums, and has never had a cleaning... My little cocker mix that is 15 has had terrible teeth (tendency for tarter buildup and red/swollen gums) her whole life, and has needed cleaning. My two year old dalmation mix appears to be between the two. she has a little tarter already, but not bad yet. They all eat the same quality dry food.
My little dog was due for another cleaning when the possibility of Cushings disease has now put that on hold until we figure it out... more than likely she will still be better off with the cleaning, as the red gums and associated disease are a constant source of infection and she is an otherwise healthy but aging dog.