# Check Your Dogs Teeth



## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

I feel like such a wowser, I just take it for granted Mollie's teeth are fine and it never really occurred to me to check her back teeth. When I did, this is what I found. (Of course it had to be the day I was showing a friend how clean her dogs teeth could be if she fed a raw bone now and then LOL).








The vet (I've never seen her before - she is the wife of our normal vet) said it is definately fractured and missing part of the tooth. She said I could take Mollie to a canine dentist who would determine if the tooth could be saved, but it would need a root canal and need rebuilding, $2000 plus. Or, she could just extract it next week $500.00. I chose the extraction as I think the tooth is past saving, plus the fact we'd more than likely have to put her under a couple of times to get a root canal and I'm not positive they could save it anyway.
I have my suspicions, but can not say for sure how it happened or when it happened. Mollie didn't show any symptoms or display any pain, no rubbing her face on the ground or pawing at her face, or really even noticeably favouring it whilst chewing. Even so, it must be awfully painful.
I also got a full bloodwork done.
The vet was very impressed by how clean and white the rest of Mollies teeth are, but it's sad that we had to agree to disagree on why.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Wow. That's a nasty fracture! I agree - don't put the dog through anesthesia to save something that probably can't be saved.


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

I feed rmbs every so often. So now I am going to check their teeth~ I do brush them~ but really dont look at the back ones closely. Sorry to hear this! Poor Molly! Gee I think a new toy is well justified here!


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

Oh no...poor Mollie. That's too bad, but I am glad that you discovered it. I think you made the right choice. Keep up updated with how she does.....


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Mollie went in for her tooth extraction today. What they discovered was that the tooth had a (slab?) fracture, that was very thin and was completely separated from the main part of the tooth. The vet said there she could not find any exposed pulp which means there probably is not an absess. 
So, thats great news. They have saved the tooth by pulling the broken piece, smoothing the remainder of the tooth and giving it a fluroid treatment.

But, she apparently has chips out of all her back teeth, the four that she uses to chew.
So, I can only surmise that beef ribs are too hard for my girl. 
Of course the vet jumped all over the fact that I give her raw bones and said I need to rethink my dental hygiene strategy. What brasses me off even more is that I know she will use this as evidence to other people that you should not feed bones, even though, she said again today, other than these problems, Mollies teeth are absolutely perfect.
Of course I'm going to keep doing my thing, but obviously need to manage it better, I guess only pork ribs and chicken bones from now on in.

So, if you have a 40lber, strong jawed chewer, you may want to take heed.


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## Ania's Mommy (Feb 8, 2009)

Aw Penny, I'm sorry you and Mollie had to go through this! I think what Ania had was a slab fracture too, only I didn't put that together until you mentioned it. But it sounds right, I mean, the break was vertical, not horizontal, and it was parallel to her.... teeth (if that makes sense). 

I'm glad they were able to save her tooth! That's great news! What the vet told me is that as dogs age, their pulp gets smaller. And if the break exposes the pulp, the tooth is done for. I know that Mollie isn't that much older than Ania, but I'm sure that the small age advantage she has helped a little.

Yeah, even though Ania broke her tooth on something that wasn't food (rock?), our days of beef ribs are at an end as well.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Thanks Richelle. You know, it sounds like Mollie and Ania had the exact same fracture, vertical and parallel to the tooth, yes, I know exactly what you mean. The vet and I both agreed that keeping the tooth if at all possible is the right way to go in a younger dog. I'll just keep an eye on it, if it starts to gather tartar again in a couple of months then I'll know its still hurting her, so I'll get it extracted then if I have to.


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## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

MollyWoppy said:


> Mollie went in for her tooth extraction today. What they discovered was that the tooth had a (slab?) fracture, that was very thin and was completely separated from the main part of the tooth. The vet said there she could not find any exposed pulp which means there probably is not an absess.
> So, thats great news. They have saved the tooth by pulling the broken piece, smoothing the remainder of the tooth and giving it a fluroid treatment.
> 
> But, she apparently has chips out of all her back teeth, the four that she uses to chew.
> ...


I am glad to hear Molllie did not have to have any tooth removed!:happy: Poor pup! But she is a trooper! And good tip with the bones! My dogs when I give them the beef rib bones have terrible gas ainkiller:and have also thrown up, and its only when I have given them these type bones! I think I will take your advise and just do the pork ribs and chicken too! Thanks for that mollywoppy!!!!!!!!!!!!:wink: Give Mollie a big hug and a good petting for me:grouphug:~ poor girl! Also have fun with whatever new toy you get her for her invasive,~not fun~ ordeal! Hugs to Mollie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:biggrin1:


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Wow! So glad it had a happy ending. I will have to re-think when we get to the point where we are doing beef, whether to give the bones. So thanks for the information.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Dang it! Glad to hear the tooth could be saved and that she is doing well. How did her bloodwork look?

I check my dogs teeth probably twice a week. I'm kind of a stickler for it. I haven't noticed any chips or fractures on any of them as of yet. Beef ribs are currently too expensive to buy right now....don't know if I would stop giving them at this point.


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## RaisingWolves (Mar 19, 2011)

It's good they could save the tooth! I'm sorry to read there are more chipped teeth. 

I wonder if beef necks are too hard? My two chew the pieces off in crumbs. I've never fed full grown beef ribs. I feed 5-7 day old calf bones, which are suppose to be softer and more digestible. 
I stopped giving beef marrow bones after reading PMR blog.


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## malluver1005 (Nov 15, 2009)

Aspen had a horizontal fracture on his big lower molar. His was savable so he had a root canal done. Not sure if the beef ribs caused it or deer antlers. So both have been eliminated from his diet. Both molars from both sides are chipped as well. He has a very strong bite so he easily crushes the beef ribs. He does crack the deer antlers sometimes.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Yeah, its hard to know if it was the marrow bones I gave her for the first 2 years of her life, ice cubes (not that she hardly ever gets them), rocks (hardly ever touches them), the beef ribs or when I hit the brakes in the car and she hit the dashboard. 
Anyway, I'm definitely cutting out the beef ribs as she crushes them down to splinters and I'll supervise everything else that could possibly create havoc with her teeth.

Natalie, in the horror of the moment (they were trying to talk me into putting her on Prescription Diet TD), I completely forgot to ask about the blood panel. I'm sure they would have mentioned if anything was out of whack, but I've got them posting me a copy so I can check. I didn't realise they were taking blood the same day I took her in, so she wasn't fasted, blast it all.


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