Nylabone Advanced Oral Care Dog Dental Foam, 3-oz bottle

Hi, I wrote a 5 star review for this product a couple of years ago. The active ingredient, Hexametaphosphate binds to the calcium matrix of plaque and over time, it does indeed help break down existing dental plague and offers some preventative action. HOWEVER, there is a downside: All of this swallowed phosphate is bad long term for your dog's skeleton and is very hard on the kidneys. Interestingly, the label states that it is for use for adult dogs only so obviously they think that the recommended dosage is a risk for the growing puppy skeleton. I have also read that hexametaphosphate promotes urinary stones (bladder and kidney). Also, it is interesting that Hills has removed this active ingredient from the prescription version of its dental care kibble. Yes, they have silently eliminated the active ingredient. Obviously, they decided the cons outweighed the pros. So, it seems to me that their Rx version and general dental care kibble are the same now as they both just have the fibrous, scrubbing texture. It was always my opinion that it was bad to feed a dog hexametaphosphate daily in their food but then also naively thought it safe to apply this ingredient directly to my dog's teeth without having any idea as to how much was really safe long term. I no longer think it safe to use this product at all