Gingivitis and diet

I want to first start off by saying I love you guys and I don't know what I would do w/o you all! When we adopted Reggie a couple months ago, my vet told me that he had signs of gingivitis and would benefit from an oral cleaning. I said I would do it soon and for the past month I have been feeling guilty, b/c not only does he need his teeth cleaned, Bill, the guy we adopted 7 months ago also REALLY needs his teeth cleaned. I made an appointment for them both on Thursday. Hubby is a little freaked out by the cost (I am a stay at home mom-only one income), but he will get over it.

They are both 5 years old and we do not know their backgrounds whatsoever...diet, dental care, etc. Our female, Hex, is also 5, but I adopted her when she was 2 and she has perfectly clean teeth. Up until recently (I switched everyone to canned for better health), she has always exclusively been on grain free kibble. We have never had any health issues with her, in fact.

My question is this, should I still include a little kibble in their diet for dental health? Maybe a small afternoon snack? Or crunchy treats? I am really concerned that the dental issues are going to keep coming back if they are all going to be on wet food all the time or that Hex will suddenly start having the same issues as the boys :-/

Another quick question...should I be brushing their teeth? Do you think they will need cleanings once a year? I'm just trying to find ways to prevent this from being a common occurrence.

Regular dry food doesn't actually help with dental health whatsoever. http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/does-dry-food-clean-the-teeth/  There are some special dental diet dry foods, but I wouldn't recommend them from a nutrition standpoint. Wet food is no better or worse for teeth than dry food.

As you have noticed amongst your cats, dental health seems to be more of a genetic predisposition than anything else. Some cats just seem more prone toward gingivitis. It's not really clear why. Unfortunately, once there is tartar build-up, the only thing that will help at that point is a dental cleaning. Once the teeth are cleaned however, you can help keep them that way longer with regular brushing at home, just like with humans. This article and video explains how to get cats used to brushing. http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/pet-owners/cat-teeth/entire-video

That's kinda what I figured too. Just get them cleaned real well and then keep up on it after that. I think I will do it once per week. I'm glad the wet food doesn't predispose them to dental issues.