My neighbor's dog recently had to have about nine teeth extracted. My poor neighbor was so worried. But Frannie still eats well and her breath is very nice now and she's just...happier. My neighbor said she didn't realize how much the teeth must have been bothering her until after they were removed and Fran cheered up dramatically.

It's not that unusual to have to do a lot of extractions on an older dog, even one that has had excellent dental upkeep throughout their life. They can chip their teeth on toys, sticks, bones, anything they put their mouth around...they can plane their teeth down with tennis balls (those make for some WIERD looking X-rays!), and it's amazing how many other strange ways dogs can damage their teeth.

I'd like to have MY Star's broken teeth extracted, unfortunately she has broken her canines, which can be very traumatic to remove, so for now we're just watching her and them carefully.

Good luck to your Star with her surgery!