Are Greenies dog dental chews worth it for a small dog's teeth?

How the teenie size actually cleans teeth

Here's what's actually going on with a Greenies dental chew, and it isn't magic, it's mechanics. The chew is dense enough that your dog has to work it with the back teeth to break it down, and that grinding action is what does the cleaning, scraping down toward the gumline the way a toothbrush would if your dog ever tolerated one. That only works, though, if the chew is sized to the mouth doing the chewing. This teenie size is built for dogs in the 5 to 15 pound range specifically so the chew lasts long enough to matter and small enough that a little dog isn't trying to gulp something built for a Labrador. Give it daily and you're layering repeated mechanical scraping over weeks, which is closer to how a toothbrush routine actually works than any single treat could be on its own. The company's own testing behind this claims meaningfully less tartar and plaque buildup within four weeks of daily use, which tracks with how mechanical cleaning works generally: repetition, not a one-time miracle chew. The vet-recommended label on the box is doing real work here too, this isn't a novelty bone, it's positioned as part of an actual oral care routine, alongside the vitamins and minerals worked into the recipe rather than a chew that's just filler shaped like a treat.