Broken Tooth! Any experience with this?

[OnyxDog]

I make it a point to check Treasure's teeth at least a few times a month because she gets tartar built up on her canines. Well, last night I noticed that her breath was smelling kind of stinky, so I looked in her mouth and one of her back teeth is broken, and there's some built up tarter on the surrounding teeth. I assume it is because she is not using that side to chew her food. I can see a little bit of red showing through the tooth. Here are pictures of both sides to compare.







I have no idea what broke the tooth. In addition to her regular raw meals, she sometimes chews on deer antlers and Himalayan dog chews. I do not give any sort of weight bearing bones. Does anybody have any experience with this? Anything I should watch out for? I noticed that she can still use the bad side of her mouth to chew on her antlers, so I don't think she is in a lot of pain. I am taking her to the vet this afternoon to get it checked out.

Also, can somebody who is more knowledgeable about teeth let me know what that tooth is called? Thank you!

[brandypup]

WOW i never seen that. One side so pearly white the the other so much build up. Is it broken or maybe worn down? Just grabbing at straws here. :) Sorry no answer. My cat's tooth broke but she has a geneticly bad mouth.

[DaneMama]

That tooth will definitely have to come out. The pulp cavity where the nerve ending is exposed (The spot where the red stuff is coming out). With that hole being there it sets that tooth up to be easily prone to infection as bacteria will travel up that pulp cavity.

Unfortunately a lot of dogs will break this upper fourth premolar tooth. I'd say it's due to the antlers, yak chews or possibly a rock or something.

Let us know how it goes!

[KittyKat]

Ah yes.... that will have to come out. Good luck!

[flippedstars]

That tooth will definitely have to come out. The pulp cavity where the nerve ending is exposed (The spot where the red stuff is coming out). With that hole being there it sets that tooth up to be easily prone to infection as bacteria will travel up that pulp cavity.

Unfortunately a lot of dogs will break this upper fourth premolar tooth. I'd say it's due to the antlers, yak chews or possibly a rock or something.

Let us know how it goes!

Ditto this. Our older chihuahua doxie mix broke that same tooth on both sides...cost us over $1000 to have them both removed (2 separate surgeries) thanks to greedy vets...but once that type of tooth is broken the sooner it is out the better.

[Kat]

Danemama, deer antlers can break teeth also? I thought those would be the safe chews, I give them to Ruby all the time.

[OnyxDog]

Thank you everybody for your input. We just got home from the vet and he said that it is a slab fracture, and we can either choose a root canal (expensive), or pull the tooth. He said that it doesn't have to be done immediately, but it would be a good idea to take care of it soon. We will probably have it pulled, but in the meantime we will keep a close eye on it, and try to keep it clean.

[Kat]

Do you have any ideas as to what may have caused the tooth to break? I have a feeling after this thread, im going to be checking Rubys teeth a lot more lol.

[DaneMama]

Honestly I can't tell you one way or another IF it really WAS the antler or the yak chew. But it is ALWAYS a good idea to check teeth on a regular basis.

[Love my lab]

Interesting....thanks for sharing the pic. same thing happened to my dog. She is eating on the same side so I didn't think it was causing pain. I recently noticed this on my girl and thought I would watch it to see how she acts. I have no idea how this happened. I feel like it is my fault because I let her have a deer leg. I also gave a deer antler for a chew because I thought those were ok for dogs. She chews like crazy on them. I think I have come to the conclusion that a raw fed dog is different then a kibble fed when it comes to hard chews and such because they think anything like that is food so of course they try to eat it. That may not be the case w/ all raw fed dogs, but for my dog I kinda am thinking that is what went on. She loves to chew for recreation,but I am afraid at this point to give her anything hard :(