Pedigree Dentastix Fresh Daily Dog Dental Treats

Dental chews get bought as a substitute for brushing. They are not one, and Pedigree do not claim they are — what they claim is a reduction in the rate at which tartar builds up, which is a narrower and more believable thing than a clean mouth in a stick.

The stated figure is up to 80% less tartar build-up when fed daily, from a formulation developed with vets and nutritionists at the Waltham Centre. The actives are named and small: decaffeinated green tea extract at 0.2%, sodium tripolyphosphate at 2.4% among the minerals, and eucalyptus oil at 0.03% in the oils and fats, with the green tea and eucalyptus credited for the breath side of it. Cereals lead the composition, meat and animal derivatives come fourth, and Pedigree describe them as low in fat with no added sugar and free from artificial colours and flavours. Sizes cover small, medium and large dogs, in daily packs and multipacks.

• Decaffeinated green tea extract 0.2%
• Sodium tripolyphosphate 2.4%
• Eucalyptus oil 0.03%
• Up to 80% less tartar build-up when fed daily, per Pedigree
• Sizes for small, medium and large dogs
• Complementary treat, low in fat with no added sugar

Cereal is the first ingredient, and the pack weights on this line are wrong. Meat and animal derivatives sit fourth in the composition, and no protein or fat figure is published at all — the only percentage that reached the listing's system was the eucalyptus oil at 0.03%, which has been mistakenly recorded there as the fat content. The parcel weights are inverted too: the small daily packs are logged heavier than the big multipacks, which cannot be right. Go by the stick count printed on the box, not by any weight shown against this line, and if in doubt tell us the size you want and we will check the box before it goes out.

Who it's for: owners who want a daily dental routine that will actually happen, and who understand this is a supplement to brushing and check-ups rather than a replacement for either.