I’ve never seen a cat with bad teeth... and I’ve seen a lot of cats but they were all outdoor cats. Indoor cats have more dental problems because of the limited diet, I suppose. I’ve never seen an adult cat with missing teeth either so I doubt bad teeth are common in healthy non-hockey-playing cats. Usually cats only have bad breath immediately after eating, and never any body odor unless Fido’s been using them as chew toy. If your cat has chronic bad breath there’s probably some other problem going on that tooth brushing will cover but won’t fix.
Stale water could be an issue- cats being desert animals don’t drink much, but in the house they drink even less. They won’t drink enough water if the water is more than a day old even if it looks perfectly clean. In the house, water starts getting ‘flat’ pretty quick because it doesn’t move, which is why you’ll often see dogs and cats preferring the frequently flushed toilet over the dish. Outdoor cats can drink from many sources such as ponds with vegetation which keeps water fresh, or bubbling creeks that naturally are high in oxygen, so they drink more than enough when outside just because it tastes better to them. If yours can’t go outside, refill the water dish frequently, throw in a few ice cubes once in a while to freshen it, get a dish that recycles water with a built in pump, get a table fountain, or even keep a bowl of water with sweet potato vine clippings or a juncus reed or water hyacinth growing in it to encourage the cat to drink frequently... you could even put mint sprigs in the water if your cat is an elitist Barbara Streisand type. The cat will drink more often and the stinky breath will likely go away, and this might save the cat from the urinary problems which cats are vulnerable to if kept indoors on commercial diets.
Commercial cat foods make for stinky breath, particularly the dry kind, and are missing the enzymes found in raw meat which keep their digestive tracts healthy and so, help with the breath. They are often low in the kind of fiber a cat needs to digest their food so it helps to grow some grass in a pot for them to eat if they need it, and to give them a bit of rare or raw fish, meat, marrow or livers for the enzymes. Yogurt may help too. Supplementing your cat’s food with scrambled eggs or barely coddled eggs will keep the fur glossy— eggs are cheaper than pet food, fresher, and nutritious. Chicken gizzards, pork rib bone, t bone, and gristle from a steak will help them massage their gums which is safer than you doing it with a tooth brush and fun instead of stressful for them. Just hope your cat won’t stick is nose up at the idea of chewing meat off a bone- if they do then you may have to try the dremel tool, duct tape and c-clamp method.
My old cats still have complete sets of nice white teeth and pointy claws. Lizards and palmetto bugs must be good for the gums and the snakes must make good dental floss for cats. Speaing of squirrels, one old geezer cat finally caught a squirrel the other day and the way it ate it up leaving only the tail and no bones I guess the teeth are fine.
In my dog’s case, his whole body stinks to high heaven if I feed him dog food so I quit... now he gets eggs of which I have tons thanks to the chickens, and he gets leftovers, cornbread, yogurt, sweet potatoes, catfish, raw meat and raw soup bones once in a while. Now he doesn’t stink [unless he rolled in something dead], his fur is shiny, and his teeth are white. But he’s an outdoor dog- an indoor dog might get too fat on this diet.
If your heart’s really set on brushing its teeth yourself, you can get a metal cone called a killing cone from a poultry supply place; just drop the cat in head-first and the only thing that will stick out the bottom of the cone is his face— his feet and the claws will be inside the cone and out of your way, freeing one hand to hold the toothbrush- or dremel tool with polishing bit- and the other to prop his mouth open with a chicken leg bone, pair of tongs, or screwdriver.
Of course, you can get cats for free so you could always just replace them when the teeth get yellow and enjoy a nice bowl of tiger, phoenix and dragon soup. ;-)
I had a cat with both missing teeth and bad gums. Turns out it was a symptom of Chronic Renal Failure. Pay attention to your cat’s teeth—it can be an important sign of their overall health! My vet and I do an oral exam of my new kitty every six months now.