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Is baking soda safe for dogs in homemade dog toothpaste recipes?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Japanese Spitz | Female | spayed | 2 years and 5 months old | 11 lbs

I wanted to start brushing my dog's teeth cause she has quite a bit tartar buildup,I wanted to made homemade toothpaste instead of buyed one,but all dog toothpaste recipes on internet has baking soda in it and I just wonder isn't soda toxic for dogs, can I really use it, if not is there are there other ingredients that I can use for it.And I wonder, I ask this on other question but I am really scared, even if I remove the tartar would other organs be already damaged and cause shorten lifespan

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Strydom, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on March 5th, 2018

Hello, thank you for using Pet Coach. You are likely to get better compliance from Joshie if you use commercial toothpaste made for dogs as it is flavored and dogs actually like it. If you don't make it taste good she will probably not be too happy with the brushing procedure. What is bad for dogs in human toothpaste is the flouride. So, esentially you can use human children's toothpaste as it does not contain flouride. She probably won't like those flavors either though. You can make your own toothpaste if you want to. Baking soda is not toxic to dogs and should be fine to use. Do not use hydrogen peroxide as that will cause vomiting if she swallows too much of it. Here is a link to a recipe you can use: ( https://www.cuteness.com/blog/content/diy-dog-toothpaste ) Hope this helps. Best wishes!

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