We brush almost daily, may miss a day here or there. We also give TONS of chewies. Our vet actually said that cleaning their teeth (at the vets) can resilt in their teeth accumulating more tatar than before. He recommends brushing daily and good chew toys. He offered to clean their teeth, but strongly advised against it, unless of course you have already a LARGE build up of tartar, and then it needs to be done. Prevention is best!