Stop masking symptoms. Strengthen your dog’s gums and joints at the source, for fresher breath, easier movement, and peace of mind.
From worksSOwell, makers of 1-TDC
It doesn't stop it from coming back the next day.
If you're reading this after a vet appointment that ended with a number that made you sit down, you're not the only one. The cleaning your vet quoted. The anesthesia question you asked. The 'is there anything else I can do first' that came out before you'd even decided to book it. You went in because of something you'd already noticed at home. His breath, the color of his gums, or the way he turned his head when you tried to look.
That's the exact moment this page is for. If your vet has told you going under isn't an option (not something to be nervous about but something that's actually off the table), this page is for you too.
You already know something's wrong. What you probably don't know yet is why the cleaning alone doesn't stop it, and what 500+ vets recommend doing between visits so you're not back here again in eight months.
Most owners never hear this at the vet's office: a professional cleaning is a reset, not a maintenance plan. It clears what's already built up, but doesn't stop what starts building up again the next day. And that new buildup starts sooner than most owners would guess.
A new film begins forming on the teeth within about 24 hours of a cleaning. Left alone, that film is what eventually becomes the tartar you were just paying to have removed.
If he's had a cleaning before, you already know how this goes. His breath is better for a while. Then one morning it isn't.
Cleanings are real medicine. If your vet recommended one, that recommendation stands. That visit just isn't built to walk you through what to do in between. If nobody ever covered that with you, that's not something you missed.
You know how this works in your own mouth: a cleaning twice a year, and brushing every day in between. Your dog gets the twice-a-year part.
The missing piece is the in-between, daily prevention that works on the gums between cleanings, not instead of them. Brushing helps with what you can see. It doesn't reach what's happening below the gumline. The daily habit that does is called 1-TDC.
My dog went from needing a dental this year to not needing a dental due to this product. I used it along with an enzymatic toothpaste. I brush her teeth and then apply 1-TDC. Her plaque came off and her inflamed gums have resolved.
Most owners think of dental health as a plaque-and-tartar problem: brush more, get it scraped off at the vet, done. That's not wrong, exactly. It's just not where the real issue is.
Plaque and tartar are what you can see, and they're what most products and most certifications are built to address. The VOHC seal, for example, the one you'll see on dental chews and water additives, certifies products for controlling plaque and tartar specifically. It's not the same thing as certifying a product for gum health. That's a separate question, one VOHC's seal doesn't answer.
The gums are where the real problem takes hold. Periodontal is the clinical word for it, and it just means the gums and the bone holding the tooth in place. Tartar sitting on a tooth is a symptom you can see. What's going on below the gumline decides whether that tooth, and the bone under it, stays healthy long-term. That is the part a board-certified veterinary dentist looks at.
What's below the gumline also decides the size of the next quote. A routine cleaning is what your vet quoted. When the gums have pulled away from the tooth and pockets have formed, the cleaning has to go below the gumline (root planing), and the number moves: a dental can run as high as $3,500. The quote you were given is the version where the gums are still holding.
A recent veterinary study found that 98.6% of dogs over 1 year old brought in for an exam already have some form of periodontal breakdown or a fractured tooth (Stepaniuk et al., 2026, Journal of Veterinary Dentistry). This isn't a rare problem. It's close to universal, and it's exactly why the gums, not just what you can see on the teeth, are the actual issue.
That's on top of 500+ vets who recommend 1-TDC, and over 10 years on the market. Not a new supplement making a new promise. Dr. Anthony, 40 years a board-certified veterinary dentist, put his name on it.
Plaque isn't really the problem. Bacteria make up about 98% of it, and left alone, that bacteria inflames the gums. Inflamed gums make it easier for more plaque to build up and harden into tartar, which inflames the gums further. It's a spiral, not a one-time event, which is why a single cleaning resets the clock instead of stopping it.
That bacteria is also what you're smelling. The breath isn't a separate problem from the gums. It's the same problem, reaching your nose.
1-TDC is built around a specific type of fatty acid, and the form matters. Those fatty acids are esterified, which is a deliberate part of how the formula works, not an incidental one.
That structure is also part of why 1-TDC is designed to absorb quickly through the tissue in the mouth, rather than needing to be broken down through digestion first.
According to Dr. James Anthony, worksSOwell's Chief Medical Officer, 1-TDC binds to T-helper cells (a type of immune cell), which carry it to sites of active inflammation throughout the body, gums and joints included.
Once there, the fatty acids 1-TDC delivers convert into compounds the body uses to calm inflammation and stabilize the affected tissue. That's the same process working below the gumline daily, not just during a cleaning.
In a clinical study of cats with chronic periodontal problems, 1-TDC reduced gum pocket depth, gum attachment loss, gum inflammation, and bleeding, compared to placebo, over six weeks (Kubitza & Anthony, 2019, Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery).
That study was done in cats, and your dog is not a cat. According to Dr. Anthony, research on products like this runs in dogs, cats, and mice, and cats and dogs are both mammals with closely similar biology and inflammatory systems. He adds that he has seen 1-TDC do the same thing in dogs in his own practice, which he counts as clinical experience rather than study data.
The immune cells that carry 1-TDC to his gums travel everywhere else in him too. Inflammation starting in the mouth doesn't stay in the mouth either. When researchers examined 44 dogs, they found that the more periodontal breakdown a dog carried, the more likely they were to also find changes in the heart valves, the liver and the kidneys (Pavlica et al., 2008, Journal of Veterinary Dentistry).
The joints belong on that list too. In a mouse study, gum inflammation on its own showed up as bone loss inside a joint, and the mice that had arthritis too developed it faster and more severely (Cantley et al., 2011, Journal of Clinical Periodontology).
That is why a board-certified veterinary dentist thinks about gum health as whole-body health and not as dental work. And it is why the same softgel that works below his gumline also reaches his joints.
If the joint half sounds like it isn't about your dog, it might be. Researchers x-rayed 30 dogs aged four to ten while they were in for a dental cleaning, none of them carrying a joint diagnosis. 18 of the 30 had joint changes showing on the films, on an average of three joints each, and most of their owners had no idea (Millis & Hecht, 2026, JAVMA). The changes were already there. The signs hadn't arrived yet.
That's the case for doing something daily. 1-TDC doesn't replace a cleaning. Cleanings and chews remove what's already built up. 1-TDC works on the inflammation that makes buildup accelerate in the first place. Used together, that's a complete routine: mechanical removal, plus a reason removal doesn't get undone as fast. And nothing else on the shelf works on his gums and his joints together.
Stepaniuk KS, Gingerich W, Ziche AM (2026). Journal of Veterinary Dentistry. Oral examination of a random anesthetized canine population. 98.6% of dogs over one year old showed some form of periodontal breakdown or a fractured tooth.
Kubitza F, Anthony JMG (2019). Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. Six-week placebo-controlled study in cats with chronic periodontal problems. 1-TDC reduced gum pocket depth, attachment loss, inflammation and bleeding.
Pavlica Z, Petelin M, Juntes P, et al. (2008). Journal of Veterinary Dentistry. 44 dogs examined. Greater periodontal burden was associated with a higher likelihood of changes in the heart valves, liver and kidneys. An association, not a demonstrated cause.
Cantley MD, Haynes DR, Marino V, Bartold PM (2011). Journal of Clinical Periodontology. Mice given gum inflammation alone showed bone loss inside a wrist joint. Mice given gum inflammation before arthritis developed the arthritis faster and more severely than mice with arthritis alone.
Millis DL, Hecht S (2026). JAVMA. 30 medium-to-large dogs aged four to ten, none previously diagnosed with joint problems, x-rayed during a routine dental cleaning. 18 had joint changes on the films, averaging three joints each. Most of their owners had not realized.
Full research libraryHere's what daily improvement looks like week to week:
1-TDC gives you real flexibility here, which matters because "how do I actually give this to my dog" is the single most common question owners ask before they buy.
If his mouth is still sore, or he's never been thrilled about anyone reaching for his gums, you don't have to fight him for it: two of the four oral options below, the food topper and the whole treat, never touch his mouth directly. The other two get you the fastest gum benefit, for dogs who tolerate it.
Orally, four ways:
Topically, two ways:
Most owners land on one of the first four and never think about it again. It fits into whatever your dog already does at mealtime or treat time. No separate ritual, no fighting to get a pill down.
Dosing is simple and based on weight:
| Pet weight | Daily dosage |
|---|---|
| Under 25 lbs (small breeds) | 1 softgel every 2 days |
| 25-50 lbs (medium breeds) | 1 softgel daily |
| 51-100 lbs (large breeds) | 2 softgels per day |
| 100+ lbs (extra large breeds) | 3 softgels per day |
A 120-count bottle runs about eight months for a dog under 25 lbs, and about four months at 25 to 50 lbs.
This isn't instead of what your vet recommended. It's what happens in between: the daily habit that works on the same problem a cleaning resets, so you're not paying to reset it again in eight months. You already know the cleaning your vet quoted isn't the end of this. The question is what you do with the time between now and the next one.
60-day money-back guarantee. 500+ vets already recommend it.

Fair question, and the honest answer has two halves. Most products sold for dental health work on what has already built up, the plaque and tartar you can see. 1-TDC supports your dog's own healthy inflammatory response below the gumline, which is a different job.
The other half is what it isn't. This is daily support, not a procedure. In a survey of 101 verified 1-TDC customers, 85% saw visibly improved oral health, and 93% of those saw results within 1-2 months.
Most owners see visible change between 4 and 8 weeks. Three named veterinary specialists have put their names to it publicly, two of them board-certified in veterinary dentistry. And if it does nothing for your dog, you have 60 days to say so and get your money back.
Yes, and the reasoning runs differently for you than for anyone else reading this page. Everywhere above, daily support fills the gap between cleanings. In your case there is no gap to fill. It becomes the entire routine.
So be clear on what it does and doesn't do. It will not remove what has already hardened onto the tooth. That is mechanical work, and only a cleaning does it.
What it does is support the gum tissue below the gumline, every day, which is where periodontal problems take hold in the first place.
Your vet knows his full history and made that call for a reason. Bring this up at the next visit and ask how daily gum support fits the plan they already have for him.
No. What is gone is gone: extracted teeth don't come back, and tartar that has already hardened still needs a cleaning to come off.
What is still in play is every tooth she has left and the gum tissue holding them in, and that tissue takes the same daily support whether you started five years ago or this week. Chantal, quoted above, started after her dog had teeth pulled two years running.
One active ingredient: 1-TDC, a 420mg proprietary blend per softgel, sourced from beef. The rest of the softgel is carob, wild Alaskan salmon oil, gelatin, glycerin, purified water, and non-GMO soybean oil. Third-party tested. GMP certified. Made in the USA. No artificial preservatives, flavors, or colors. No fillers, no binders, no GMOs.
If your dog has a beef allergy: allergies come from protein, and 1-TDC® is a fatty acid. So, any animals allergic to beef should be safe. Of course we recommend you consult with your veterinarian first who has a full medical history of your dog.
1-TDC has no known drug interactions. Even so, check with your vet before you add it, since they hold his complete history and yours is the dog they actually know.
Timing puts no constraint on you from our side: before a meal, after a meal, with a meal, morning or evening, and no waiting before he eats or drinks.
One-time orders ship for $6.99, free over $99. Subscriptions ship free on every delivery. We ship to Canada at a flat $15.
Still have questions?
Contact Our TeamWatch how 1-TDC impacted their dogs' oral health