Something that’s going to clean a dog’s teeth well would be something similar to the scrubbing of a toothbrush. Brushing your dog’s teeth is obviously recommended, but as far as a more natural alternative, a raw knuckle bone will work wonders.
Raw, not cooked, knuckle bones provide soft crevasses that will clean your dog’s teeth and gum line. Caution should always be taken when giving your dog any bone, but especially raw when it comes to your health and washing your hands/surfaces. Cooked bones, like femurs, can crack your dog’s teeth, splinter and create a chocking hazard, or even get stuck around their jaw! Rawhides, pig ears, and antlers can cause some harm, too.
If raw things freak you out, dental chews are an okay alternative. You just want to make sure they are easily digestible. They shouldn’t contain corn, soy, gluten, extra fat or sugar, or animal-by-products. Natural Balance Dental Chews are great and have limited ingredients. Greenies are not great, they are not easily digestible and have caused many surgeries and deaths from impaction. Pedigree Dentastix and Milkbone Dental Chews have poor ingredients as well.