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Broken puppy teeth


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I took my sweet 16 week old Blitzen to the vet today for regularly-scheduled vaccinations, and was told she has broken both of her bottom canines! Likely from chewing on things that are too hard :( The vet recommended extraction. I'm going to call a dog dentist Monday morning for a second opinion, but in the meantime, do any of you have experience with broken puppy teeth? I want to weigh the pros and cons of extraction vs. just waiting for them to fall out and her adult teeth to come in. She doesn't seem to be in any pain, beyond normal teething pain. She's still chewing on EVERYTHING and eating dry food with no trouble. But the vet said there's a chance it could screw up the development of her adult teeth. But it's expensive and extraction would require general anesthesia, and I'm not excited about either of those things. Plus she has to be spayed sometime in the next few months, and I can't imagine going under general anesthesia twice in such a short time is a great idea. But I'll do whatever is best for her... Thoughts? Thanks!

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Molly broke both her top canines at about 10 weeks old, thanks to playing tug with adult dogs. My vet just shrugged it off and said they'd come out and be replaced when she lost her puppy teeth, but to watch closely for signs of infection. He didn't even seem to consider extraction a real option/worth it, and that's what we live in for. And that was a lot further from losing those canines than your girl.


That said, I have no idea how they're broken or how far down and all I can really suggest is listening to your vet. But... at 16 weeks she's maybe a month or two from those canines coming out ANYWAY. I know there's a risk of adult teeth being messed up, but. Man, I don't know. Obviously I waited it out with no ill effects. I would have had them out for infection or even risk of, but probably not the potential of messed up adult teeth. If the adult teeth had come in too messed up I would have even extracted THOSE without much worry or strife.

 

But I'm not your vet and I'm not looking at your dog and she's not mine.

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I have had pups break off the tip of canines before and I've never had to have one pulled. I just watched closely for infection and encouraged the tooth to come out as soon as it started looking like it should come out by playing gentle tug games.

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My pup too broke a canine. Bottom, I think? I just waited it out. Perhaps there was a risk of further complications, but it didn't seem worth a several hundred dollar surgery and the risk therein for a tooth that would come out in a month anyway. I suppose you should listen to your vet, but I'd stay on the conservative side if it were me. A chipped puppy tooth probably won't kill him. :)

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I can't say much about the teeth, but would ask you to look through archives for recent discussions on the best age to spay/neuter.

 

Here's another article to add to the discussion: http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/three-reasons-to-reconsider-spayneuter/?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=facebook_page&utm_medium=Dogs%20Naturally%20Magazine&utm_content=Three%20Reasons%20To%20Reconsider%20Spay/Neuter

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I think it depends on how they are broken. Are just the tips chipped? If so, probably wait it out.

 

Is the tooth broken into the gum? That's what you can get complications and a higher risk of infection.

 

I think it's great idea to call the vet dentist and get a second opinion. I wouldn't do anytime of surgery I wasn't sure about (barring something in an emergency, of course) without waiting and getting a second opinion.

 

I had to have one of Tess's adult teeth removed (thankfully not a canine but one of her front teeth) because she cracked it all the way into the gum. The surgery was about $700. The cost of vet care is definitely my least favorite thing about having a dog. So, yeah, definitely get a second opinion if it's her baby teeth and they're going to fall out anyway.

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Thank you all for being so reasonable! It sounds like this is a pretty common problem, and not really that big a deal. It's just the very tips of her teeth, and I never would have noticed had the vet not pointed it out. I was surprised and concerned because he's usually pretty calm about things and not trying to upsell me on unnecessary services, but he seemed pretty reactionary about this. But he also seemed like he was having an off day all around, and Blitzen was in especially high crazy-puppy-mode, and he was having a hard time getting a good look at her teeth. I'll call the dentist tomorrow, but at this point it seems like no big deal. Thanks for the reassurances :)

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I think a second opinion is a good idea.

 

Just a quick question - as I have a pet theory and like to keep track - is your vet a younger vet? My personal experience (and also the experience of some of my dog-owning friends) is that the current generation of younger vets seem to suggest more tests and more expensive treatment options than vets that are generally older and with more experience.

 

Hmmm, maybe I should start a separate thread... (maybe later, I have to do chores now.)

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Jovi, you are definitely right about the age connection. To older vets, our dogs are still just animals. Younger vets are taught that today people think of their dogs/cats as family members and want more options for treatment and to be proactive. And in the age of pet insurance, spending more will be the new norm.

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I don't doubt the connection, though for what it's worth my 'meh, they'll fall out soon' vet is under 30 and so new he's still wet behind the ears. He's progressive in a lot of ways - like supporting raw feeding and delayed spay/neuter and limited vaccines and so on- but he's never one to go overboard.

 

I live in a really low income area, though, which I'm sure influences thing.

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Interesting theory. He is a younger vet, but I've been going to this clinic since I was young and poor, and one if the things I always appreciated about the place was that they usually don't try to sell me a bunch of unnecessary services. I think the younger doctors understand the newer dogs=family mindset, but also know what it's like to be drowning in debt. I feel like older doctors can forget that.

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I don't find it to be true that younger vets are any different from older vets in terms of letting things work out as opposed to exhaustive testing and so on.

 

When me and my puppy were in the midst of our quest to find the cause of her intermittent lameness, I got opinions that ranged from "leave it be and see what happens" to "this requires exploratory surgery yesterday". Some came from old vets, some from young vets, some from city vets and some from country vets. It was all over the place.

 

The advice I ended up taking was from a young vet who advised a program of careful restriction where the dog was more or less in charge of her own activity.

 

To this day, I am not entirely sure what it was. Pano? Possibly. Striations were "obvious" to one vet and "not evidence enough" to another vet. All I know is this: it can make you bonkers :)

 

Use your common sense, take the professional advice under advisement and head down a course that you feel comfortable about - be ready to make a shift or change your opinion and watch carefully is the best advice I can give you.

 

Good luck.

 

P.S. FWIW I do not believe I have ever had a puppy who did not do something to one or more baby teeth. I only had one extracted because it broke off below the gum line and was causing the dog pain. I was advised to extract in other cases and decided against it but watched carefully.

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If that were my puppy and it wasn't in pain I would just let it go and watch it. Tommy has a tooth that broke off flat across the top. It's been that way for at least two years and doesn't seem to bother her at all. I just watch it. She also has worn down all of her canines and that doesn't seem to bother her at all, either. The vet just said to keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't get infected.

 

The only thing I have run into with older vets is once in a while you find somebody who is just plain burned out. They just don't seem to care anymore.

 

The vets I see now are kind of 30ish probably. They have been doing stuff long enough to have a lot of experience but not so old that they have lost interest. They do understand that not everybody has thousands of dollars for treatments. Some patients spend a fortune. Others just can't do that.

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Vet in my 30s. Never have recommended jumping right to pulling teeth in a young pup. Generally I watch them for a few weeks, see how they are coming in then talk options. I've personally owned several pups who broke baby teeth. I don't neuter my dogs, so pulling at the time of neuter wasn't an option. I monitored to make sure they were not affecting the adult teeth or getting infected. One did get infected and cracked. I gave the dog antibiotics and gently worked it out while she was awake (it was already loose).

 

I do think the younger generation tends to practice more "defensive medicine." People are much faster to sue these days, generally for really stupid reasons.

 

All that said, I've not seen your pup's mouth. It is entirely possible that leaving the broken teeth in place could affect how the adult teeth come in. That does happen quite often in some breeds of dog. Nothing stopping you from seeking the opinion of a veterinary dentist.

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I thought you guys might be interested in an update...

 

I took her to the dentist today and those tiny breaks were way worse than I'd realized. There was exposed pulp on both teeth, they were already starting to discolor, and infection seemed likely. The dentist recommended extraction and she had an opening this afternoon, so I went for it. Once they were in there they found both teeth were infected and had abscessed. They successfully removed both teeth and gave her a ton of pain killers and antibiotics and some pretty harsh restrictions on chew toys for the next few weeks, but otherwise things look good now. And I learned a LOT about dog mouth anatomy today!

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I'm glad you got that second opinion and got her teeth sorted so swiftly.

 

Just goes to show how different people and dogs can have very different requirements/outcomes even when the issue ( broken teeth in this case) sounds superficially similar.

 

. And I'm sure a deep understanding of dog mouth anatomy will always be useful!

 

Hope Blitzen feels better soon.

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