Cleaning my cats' teeth--Advice needed

I want to start cleaning my two cats teeth, however, every time I have tried in the past they have not allowed me to get my finger in their mouths far enough to get that itty bitty tooth brush in there. Last time I took my one cat for a check up, the vet looked at his teeth, noticed plaque build-up but didn't even attempt to remove it. I was rather annoyed. Any other vet I have had prior has done that. I want to make it a routine cleaning their teeth, but they make it impossible. Does anyone have suggestions on how they accomplish this? Can you please help? Thank you.

The Cornell Feline Health Center has a good video showing how to do it, here:

http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/pe...brushing_teeth

The way I do it is to kneel over the cat with my ankles crossed, so he can't back out. Then I lift the top of his head with one finger under each cheekbone, so he'll open his mouth. I can get to the front teeth with the little brush, but for the side teeth the best I can do is to put some of the cat toothpaste on my pinkie and slide it along the sides.

I only do it once a month or so, which I figure is better than nothing.

You might also start giving dental treats, like Greenies.

I tried the Greenies with my two... one cat didn't like them and the other swallowed the treat whole. A lot of good that would do.

I use the CET dental treats now. These can only be purchased at your vet, but the texture and shape is different then most treats so cats must chew them up. CET also has other dental products.

My cat crunches dry food, including the Greenies (which he goes crazy for). I haven't tried the CET ones, but the larger size does look good.