Broken Tooth

[SisMorphine]

I can't believe I forgot to post about this. With all of Blue's crate busting he actually broke his lower left canine.

Katrina what did you do with Cy when he did this? I can't remember. I think it'll be like $3k (!!!!!!) to get a root canal done on him, but obviously I don't want to pull it.

It doesn't appear to be hurting him at all, he goes about his day like it's no big deal. Aside from winning the lottery what are my options here?

[iluvk9]

Pole Dancers get good tips.

[Marinepits]

Depends on where he broke it and whether or not the pulp of the tooth is compromised. Shorty has two broken canines, one pretty bad, the other not so much. According to Dr Blabs, neither needs to be pulled or worked on and we're just watching them to make sure they don't turn a nasty colour (meaning the tooth is dying) and don't start bothering her.

[TheRedQueen]

Depends on where he broke it and whether or not the pulp of the tooth is compromised. Shorty has two broken canines, one pretty bad, the other not so much. According to Dr Blabs, neither needs to be pulled or worked on and we're just watching them to make sure they don't turn a nasty colour (meaning the tooth is dying) and don't start bothering her.

Ripley's also got two broken canines...he's had them for years, both are dead halfway down...(top to middle), but the root appears to be fine. Every vet he goes to (these have been broken since oh, 2000-2001) just says to keep an eye on them, since they don't appear to be dead all the way or bothering him. So far for years now, they've stayed the same way...just partly brown. He's got horrible teeth, and every vet also asks if he's a crate or rock chewer (NOT!). I don't know how he breaks them so easily...

He did break a molar last year that had to be pulled...I didn't even know until it abscessed and his cheek puffed up.

[mnp13]

Riggs has four broken canines, two with the "root hole" exposed, all of his lower front teeth have the root exposed, most of the upper front teeth are exposed, and three on the sides. At the present time, I need a root canal, I'm not planning to get one for my dog.

He eats and plays just fine, so I don't worry about it.

[SisMorphine]

Yeah my vet just told me to keep an eye on it until I win the lottery and can have Dr. Rosenblad do a root canal

My mom freaked out when I told her because of infection and all (she's a human dental hygienist) so I guess I'll just have to start brushing his teeth. I can guarantee you that is NOT going to go over well.

[Malli]

If you get flavored tooth paste, just let him eat a lot of it while you brush

[pocketpit]

Kimber and Dice have both had root canals done on theirs. Kimber's x-rays showed some changes in the bone surrounding her tooth so I'm glad I got hers done then Dice broke hers and it was pretty bad I freaked out and signed her up for one too.
Now I don't have to worry about them really and I guess that's a benefit but it is horribly expensive and if I had not been allowed to make payments on the procedures I probably could not have done it.

[katiek0417]

Cy has 2 broken canines...Jue has no canines...and Asja broke one last weekend...

In both Cy's (who actually had slivers going into his gum line, etc) and Asja's case, Chuck (who does Schutzhund with his dogs) told us that unless the broken teeth are bothering the dog, let it be.

Here's the thing, you get a root canal - the dog doesn't work for 3 weeks...

Same thing with the titanium tooth - first they get the root canal - then a few weeks later, get the titanium tooth. With the replacement, however, you run the risk of it breaking off, and breaking part of the jawbone with it. In addition, you run the risk of changing the dog's bite...

Now, the thing to consider is this: once a dog that does bitework has broken one tooth - it runs the risk of breaking more a lot easier than a regular housepet...the reason is because more pressure is being put on the remaining canines.

However, as Greg always says: if you want a dog with pretty teeth, don't do bitework!

Personally, I chose not to do anything to Cy's mouth. Both his lower canines are broken - and they're rather ugly - but, his grip has never changed, he never shows pain, or nothing.

Another thing, if you take Blue out and do bitework, and his grip has changed, of if he yelps, or gets chewy, it might be causing him pain, and you may have to consider the root canal earlier....

These are all the things that Chuck has had me consider (and he sees most of the police dogs in the area and most of the sport dogs in the area - so he's seen more than a few broken teeth in his time - and has had to deal with it with his own sport dogs)...

[cheekymunkee]

One of Munkee's lower teeth fell out. He looks like a hillbilly.

[blabsforbullies]

Depends on where he broke it and whether or not the pulp of the tooth is compromised. Shorty has two broken canines, one pretty bad, the other not so much. According to Dr Blabs, neither needs to be pulled or worked on and we're just watching them to make sure they don't turn a nasty colour (meaning the tooth is dying) and don't start bothering her.

Yeah... what she said....

[SisMorphine]

Thanks guys, now I feel less bad about leaving it alone. My mother REALLY freaked me out this morning!!! But she's a tooth psycho and also loves Blue more than she loves me so I guess I can see where her freak out came from.

And I'm willing to bet Blue's teeth would be GORGEOUS if he would just stop eating crates!! I bought a new crate door and it'll be delivered on Tuesday. If he eats through the new one I may be putting a toothless bulldog up for adoption

[ladyrampage]

Heck I've got one that has nubs for teeth...literally.. his favorite past time is to hunt rocks and chew em to death.. nothing, I mean nothing distracts him from his prey..

I've tried super exercise sessions, lots of pig ears, chewys, looking for every rock in his spot.. nothing works.. if he can't see a rock, he'll just dig tell he comes across one. If after one of our super exercise sessions he is way tired... he finds a rock to take to his dog house for company..

The other day I thought he had something wrong with his mouth, but no.. it was just his latest victim he wanted to show me..

When he first came to live here, I came home from work to see him carrying around a huge cement block and wagging his tail for me to come see... He is a chore but he is sooo sweet..

Ok, if ANYONE has a suggestion??

[pitbullmamaliz]

Muzzle when outside?

[ladyrampage]

naw that would be to hard on him to muzzle him.. I'm afraid it would freak him out to much.. He has been here about a year and a half and before us he had little to no attention and was pretty shy, I would hate to see him go backward.

Its annoying, and I'm always checking his teeth and doing rock removal soo if I can't find another way to distract him I'll live with it. Originally he came with the idea to enhance our bloodline buuutttt now because of this horrible habit its been shelved. We do not want a bunch of rock biters.. He is an outstanding dog otherwise and I have been debating on trying him out in confirmation anyway to see what happens. He is a dang good looking dog until ya open his mouth... His dog house is actually chained to the barn with poles drivin into the ground all around it.. If not he likes to roll his barrel allll over the yard.. He's like a 6 month old puppy in a 4 year old body..

[call2arms]

Jessie broke the tip of a bottom canine a few years ago, pulp was exposed/no bleeding but my vet at the time told me that if she ate/acted well, to leave it, and she did perfectly fine. Got a dental last winter, we x-rayed it, and it was showing the start of an abscess, so we pulled it.

Last spring, she managed to hit her face somewhere and ended up with pulpitis (tooth turned pink). Went to the specialist, he did an electrical test to check if it was still alive, it was not. The specialist offered me a 3K root canal which I declined. The other option was to extract it, and since she just had quite the adventure with her other canine being removed, we waited. She's getting a dental (haha I'm getting a chance to screw up more of her teeth in my dentistry class) and we'll x-ray it to see if needs pull. She would look like a retard, with the two opposite top and bottom canines missing...

Most people, vets and techs, that I've talked to about teeth issues, tell me that if there is no pain (and I mean poking at the tip of tooth, pressing on gums, moving the tooth) and dog is eating/playing/chewing normally, to just keep a close eye on it x-ray wise since an abscess is more likely to happen than with a normal tooth. Of course the specialist disagreed and pushed for the root canal. Apparently the tooth being dead such as the pulpitis one which is pink, does not bother her at all for now.

[SisMorphine]

Awww she'll look just fine! Wally had 17 teeth pulled and he was adorable still (even if his tongue sometimes slipped out of the side of his mouth).

[Magnolia618]

Maggie has had a broken tooth for years, and it seems to be just fine.

Poor buggar.

[Tiger]

One of Munkee's lower teeth fell out. He looks like a hillbilly.

Doja is missing two of those - one she lost as a youngster playing tug (Shannon was swinging her around and the tooth pooped loose) the other she recently lost on the spring pole. So she really looks like a hillbilly.

~Tiger

[BigDogBuford]

Buford's tongue hangs out the side of his mouth. He also drools out that side when I'm eating something. I think it's cute.