# Yorkies and bad teeth?



## BabyHusky (Jul 21, 2008)

so my fiance's family has 3 yorkies and well, they ALL have bad teeth. i've never had a small dog so I really have no experiences with them so hoping you guys can help out.

they claim that it was genetic and that most yorkies suffer from it. I mean, the teeth are BAD. wobbly, not strong at all! one of the pups has to be fed wet food because her teeth can't even handle kibble. i hate to see the pups this way. the other 2 have teeth and they eat kibble. i got them switched to wellness from sd for now (and it took ages), so at least their diet will get a little better.

either way, really? yorkies tend to have bad teeth? and is there nothing we can do?


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Yes. Most small and toy breeds have horrible teeth. We did a dental on an 18 month old yorkie and had to pull out about 6 teeth already. While I think yhat genetics has something to do with it, I think diet plays a bigger role. I know several small/toy breeds that are on a raw diet and have no dental disease.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

It probably has to do with the fact that small breeds are notoriously picky so their owners give in and only feed them canned food and treats/people food which obviously isnt doing them any favors. My first choice would be to give them RMB's suited for small teeth (something like chicken wings), but if the owners are not willing to do so, they need to brush at least 2-3 times a week and use something like Petzlife gel or spray.


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## BabyHusky (Jul 21, 2008)

yea the owners are extremely traditional koreans who still believe theres no such thing as "dog food." that dogs are meant to just eat whatever scraps are leftover (as they did it Korea back in the day). I'm glad I convinced them to at least go to wellness. Can they eat RMB? One yorkie has no teeth so I doubt she can...the other 2's teeth literally wobble so I'm guessing they can't either?


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Maybe ground up raw bones would help....


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## BabyHusky (Jul 21, 2008)

yea...i definitely wanna do anything to help the poor little things. im guessing damage done can't be reversed. for the unstable teeth, would it be best to have them removed?


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

The ones that are loose yes. That cannot be reversed...


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