Toothbrushes have bristles that reach under the gumline and clean the very small space that surrounds each tooth. Plaque accumulates in the space. Devices such as gauze pads, sponge swabs, or cotton swabs remove plaque above the gumline, but cannot adequately clean the space below the gumline. Sometimes pads or swabs are helpful for introducing toothbrushing… Cats need a special toothbrush that fits the shape of their mouth. Cats have very little room between their back teeth and the inside of their cheeks. Pushing a typical toothbrush head into this cheek area can cause discomfort by stretching the skin around the mouth and pressing the bristles into the gums… You can get a toothbrush that has long soft bristles shaped into appointed tough. By placing just the tough the bristles between the cheek and teeth, the back teeth can be brushed without causing discomfort… With regular used, the bristles will lose their tough shape and will feel stiff. Timely replacement is important because I blunted brush cannot reach the back teeth, and stiff bristle irritate the gums... Toothpastes made for people should not be used for cats… Swallowing human toothpaste may result in indigestion and/or excessive sodium (salt) intake. Toothpaste developed especially for cats are available from your veterinarian. One reason that these toothpaste are recommended for cats is that they can be swallowed. This is very important since your cat cannot “rinse and spit“. The flavors of human tooth paste are rarely appealing to cats. The products available from your veterinarian have flavors that counts accept very well… In multi-cat household, each cat does have their own toothbrush, tube, and nozzle to avoid spreading infection. If any of your cats have contagious health problems, ask your veterinarian about any additional precautionary measures.