Broken teeth

**Lissa** · 02-29-2004, 06:48 PM

Yet another question. I just noticed that Layla broke yet another tooth (her third, but the first was a puppy tooth.) I have no clue how she does it. It doesn't seem to bother her too much. Does anyone else have this problem and what they found did it and or any solutions.
Thanks again
Melissa

**Tonya** · 02-29-2004, 06:59 PM

My dogs' teeth are all intact, but my cat Ron has a broken tooth. One of his fangs is 3/4 gone. It has been like that since I got him, and it never seemed to bother him, so I just let it be.

She must be chewing on something hard. I know my mom's dog chew on the chain link fence trying to get out and mess their teeth up.

**clara4457** · 02-29-2004, 07:04 PM

My sister's dog Hutch also has a broken canine tooth. They don't know how it happened as he had it when they adopted him. I doesn't bother him right now, but the vet said that over time it would wear down and expose the nerve and cause him pain. They are planning on getting it capped this year. It is not an emergency as such, but it is probably something you are going to want to watch and eventually get fixed. The good news is that since it is not an emergency, you can spend some time saving for it before you have to have it done (unlike most accidents dogs have).

I also think it depends on which tooth it is as to the need to get it fixed (canine tooth) or eventually pulled.

This is only a guess, but my feeling is that some dogs like some people have teeth that are genetically more prone to chipping than others. Maybe that is the issue with Layla.

I'm sure there are people with more experience with this than me - Leo has great teeth and when I adopted Penny Lane, she has several teeth that we had to get pulled - they were completely rotten. She has a canine tooth that we are watching, but the vet thinks at her age we will probably end up having to pull it within the next year or so. My vet told me that a good diet, teeth brushing and bones will prevent any problems with the rest of her teeth hopefully.

**Lissa** · 02-29-2004, 07:04 PM

In that case, she has an old metal kennel that she chews on and shakes with her mouth when she wants out...though she has now figured out how to unlatch it.

**Tonya** · 02-29-2004, 07:07 PM

Smart girl!

**Twisterdog** · 02-29-2004, 07:11 PM

Does you dog chew on hard things, that could break her teeth?

My dog, Keito, chipped on of his canine teeth, chewing on a cow hoof. No more hooves around here! My vet said it's common for dogs who chew hard things like hooves to break teeth.

If it is a permanent tooth, you need to have your vet look at it. Just like with our teeth, if the hard outer enamel is broken or chipped, the softer interior of the tooth will decay. Keito got a filling in his broken tooth to prevent this ... it's even white so it doesn't show.

**Corinna** · 03-01-2004, 12:43 AM

My brother had a pointer mix that fetch rocks snd chewed them . Just a thought.

**DoggiesAreTheBest** · 03-01-2004, 03:15 AM

Drake broke his wo top front teeth in September when we were in Arizona. He likes to chew on rocks when we go rock climbing and that is how he broke his two. 3/4 of one and just about 1/4 of the other were broken. Doesn't seem to bother him, but I cried for days.