# Update on Cujo's tooth :(



## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

I just got off the phone with my own vet, have an appointment for Monday 10:30am to get a 2nd opinion. I think the tooth may be turning gray, but it's still purplish so I'm hopeful that it's gonna be OK.

I know a steel cap is probably strongest for him since he's doing bitework, but I just can't picture him not having his pretty white teeth  I really hope we can save his tooth. I was hoping there was a way to make steel teeth look like normal teeth but I guess not?

Does anyone have photos of a shepherd with steel canine teeth?

Cujo's also not really a super hard biter or police dog, maybe porcelain is strong/durable enough for him?


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## Guest (Mar 29, 2006)

Monday! Why? Can't you get him to a dentist sooner? What happened to cause this anyway?


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## Selena van Leeuwen (Mar 29, 2006)

Mike, I know that here in Holland there is a dentist who uses a sort of crown for dogs who have enough base of their tooth left. 

With steel you could have a problem in the future with fractures in the jaw, cause steel is much stronger.


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## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

The meds he's on from the other vet is the best anyone can do right now, the only thing my vet can do is give me a reccomendation on whether the tooth needs to be pulled or not -- but I've done all I can do without pulling his tooth, so either it's gonna be OK and my vet will just put my mind at ease, or it's gotta be pulled and he'll tell me on Monday. If it has to be pulled then it has to be pulled, 1 days or 3 weeks isn't going to affect the outcome.

They can see Cujo on Friday but I'd have to leave him at the vet's for the whole day, so I opted to wait till Monday and just come in with him since the extra few days won't affect the outcome either way.

Unfortunately my vet is often booked up with appointments, up until now I've been lucky enough to get same day or next day appointments.

I tried taking photos of the tooth but the lighting and the subtleness of the purple is making it difficult, so you can't see it as being anything other than a normal white tooth in the photos. But on closer inspection it's definately still purple, hasn't turned gray yet, so either the purple will go away and he'll be fine, or the purple will become gray. All I can do is play the waiting game.


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## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

Selena van Leeuwen said:


> With steel you could have a problem in the future with fractures in the jaw, cause steel is much stronger.


Interesting, I hadn't considered this -- if this was your dog, would you choose porcelain then?


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Mike Schoonbrood said:


> Cujo's also not really a super hard biter or police dog, maybe porcelain is strong/durable enough for him?


I can't answer about the work your dog does....but I CAN tell you that porcelain has now worked for several years on my granddog, a working earth dog (BT) who also does a lot of tug-practice.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

A dog on our club has just had a steel crown placed on one of his canines. It's shorter than before, because the doc was worried about leverage breaking it off. It hasn't bothered him one bit.


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## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

Bob Scott said:


> A dog on our club has just had a steel crown placed on one of his canines. It's shorter than before, because the doc was worried about leverage breaking it off. It hasn't bothered him one bit.


That would drive me nuts, I like symmetry LOL.


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

Just wanted to tell you, I think Cujo would look good either way. If you end up going with the steel, you could nickname him \"beartrap\".


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## Selena van Leeuwen (Mar 29, 2006)

Mike Schoonbrood said:


> Selena van Leeuwen said:
> 
> 
> > With steel you could have a problem in the future with fractures in the jaw, cause steel is much stronger.
> ...


It depends on what´s going on in his tooth. If the tip was broken I would go for a porcelain kind of crown. But if his roothcanal is damaged...I really don´t know. I´m afraid you´ll have to wait till you learn more from your vet.


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## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

OK I just got home from my Vet appointment. She took a look at Cujo's tooth n the medications I had him on. The antibiotics are finished now, n I have 1 week of pain killers left, she told me to continue giving the pain killers. Looks like he has a little \"pulpitis\" n referred me to a canine dental specialist over in Largo near Tampa to have xrays taken just to be sure.

I have an appointment on Apr 14th which means I needa be up at 5am to get there on time, its about a 2-2.5 hour drive if traffic is OK, I don't know where Largo is exactly so I'd rather get there too early  I'll also have my puppy then so gotta figure out how I'm gonna manage 2 dogs while going to the dentist, since I can't leave the pup home alone, n it's a good experience for her to get out and do something different with a long car ride anyway.

So the night before Cujo's not allowed to eat anything in case they do have to do anything to him that day, then the beginning of that week he needs pre-op bloodwork done at my vet's office so I have the paperwork and results ready for the dentist.

Hopefully the xray will confirm that nothing's wrong n doesn't need anything, maybe he needs a root canal. His tooth isn't visibly damaged or anything so it's likely he won't need a crown or have it pulled.

What a pain in the ass, poor doggy


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## Julia Tompson (Mar 27, 2006)

Well it sounds a little more hopeful... is he on light duty for the next two weeks? What a bummer considering you guys were making some great progress.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Julia Tompson said:


> Well it sounds a little more hopeful... is he on light duty for the next two weeks? What a bummer considering you guys were making some great progress.


It DOES sound better than the worst case scenario of an extraction.

Here's hoping the puppy doesn't get carsick. (P.S. They often do so only on the first one or two trips, I have read.)


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## Selena van Leeuwen (Mar 29, 2006)

Sounds better than what I presumed after reading your first message. Take puppy along and stop every hour to let her do her business.


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## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

If the xray shows a fracture then he needs a crown, but I don't think there's a fracture, unless it's inside the tooth where I can't see. My vet called me a few minutes ago to tell me she spoke to the dentist too, n that they think it's not going to be a big deal, but better to xray and make sure. And also wished me luck with my puppy


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Mike Schoonbrood said:


> If the xray shows a fracture then he needs a crown, but I don't think there's a fracture, unless it's inside the tooth where I can't see. My vet called me a few minutes ago to tell me she spoke to the dentist too, n that they think it's not going to be a big deal, but better to xray and make sure. And also wished me luck with my puppy


Cool!


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## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

Connie Sutherland said:


> Cool!


Yeah I love my vet's office, I'm sure they are more expensive than some (most) vets around, but they really care about the animals, they remember my name and my dogs name every time I come in, the second you come in the door they send you straight to an exam room, every exam room has a window to the reception area so you never leave the exam room, even when you're paying or doing paperwork. It's great, you're never sitting in a main waiting area with other sick dogs for more than a minute. The other vet I went to last week, oh my god, I was going crazy, n then this lady had a cat in a tote bag n I was thinking \"oh dear god please don't take the cat out of the bag (ha ha excuse the pun) cuz my dog's gonna go ape shit, then I finally got into the exam room n had to wait an hour while the dr was tending to a cat in the back room that was having seizures.


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## Hil Harrison (Mar 29, 2006)

Well hopefully Mike all will be ok then. Will keep my fingers crossed here but I'm sure he will be fine if they sound optimistic.


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## Anne Jones (Mar 27, 2006)

Mike it sound like you are on the right track. Hopefully, it will all go well & the tooth will be fine. Good luck.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Mike Schoonbrood said:


> ...... the second you come in the door they send you straight to an exam room, every exam room has a window to the reception area so you never leave the exam room, even when you're paying or doing paperwork. It's great, you're never sitting in a main waiting area with other sick dogs for more than a minute. ....


This sounds excellent. Ever see a dog fight in the waiting room? I have! Not good. Not to mention, as you say, sitting there with sick dogs and your own dog.............


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## Elly Elsenaar (Mar 27, 2006)

Here are the tooth of Holland Mike, there made from metal he was able to do some biting after he gets his new teeth, we went to dr Foreest here in Holland who is very good when it comes to teeth.




















Hope you can see it,


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## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

Thankyou I can see it


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Robodog! :wink:


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## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

Going to the dentist in the morning, gotta get up at 5am... this oughtta be interesting, taking both dogs on a road trip to the dentist.... I'm not looking forward to it, in fact, I'm a little nervous about what they find out about Cujo. Ugh.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Crossing my fingers, toes and eyes here Mike! :wink:


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## Martin Espericueta (Apr 1, 2006)

Mike Schoonbrood said:


> Going to the dentist in the morning, gotta get up at 5am... this oughtta be interesting, taking both dogs on a road trip to the dentist.... I'm not looking forward to it, in fact, I'm a little nervous about what they find out about Cujo. Ugh.


I'll probably still be awake, as it's almost 1am on the West Coast right now.

Hopefully, they'll give you GOOD news. I'll be praying for THAT TOOTH [-o<


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## Sarah Hall (Apr 12, 2006)

Mike, here's a photo of a dog I trained that needed all of her teeth capped in titanium. She was a hard-hitting SchH, and broke all the tips off her canine teeth by age 3. This is while she was still under, so you'll see the tube. Since I was a vet tech, I worked on it. Took about 30-45 mins, about the normal time for a complicated dental.


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## Martin Espericueta (Apr 1, 2006)

Sarah Hall said:


> Mike, here's a photo of a dog I trained that needed all of her teeth capped in titanium. She was a hard-hitting SchH, and broke all the tips off her canine teeth by age 3.


Sarah, is she still in SchH?


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## Sarah Hall (Apr 12, 2006)

She got her SchH 3 mid-2005 but unfortunately was badly injured in a car ride to a trial, so she's retired. :| 
She's possibly going to be bred to my Bo this fall. I'll let everyone know if I choose to breed them.


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## Martin Espericueta (Apr 1, 2006)

Sarah Hall said:


> She got her SchH 3 mid-2005 but unfortunately was badly injured in a car ride to a trial, so she's retired. :|


Now that's too bad  

Good luck w/the breeding. What do you look for in a prospective Sire (or Dame)
for breeding? Of course, the pedigree & health of the dogs is a consideration,
but can you detail this desision a bit more on the specifics?

Sorry, I'm highjacking! This question is really for all y'all breeders. You can 
PM me if you like.


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## Sarah Hall (Apr 12, 2006)

I just wrote a little something in the "Breeding" section to answer your question.


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## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

OK Dr Peak x-rayed my boy, told me that he can't see anything critically wrong with his tooth that the odds are in my favor that the tooth will always be fine, just a little discolored at the tip, but that he can resume bitework in 2-4 weeks from now, and gave me 10 days of medication for him to take. He said come back in a year and take another x-ray, then he can compare to todays x-ray to determine if the tooth died or not, but he doubts he'll need to do anything to the tooth. If anything visibly changes within the next year I take Cujo back early, otherwise April 2007.

*breathing sigh of relief*

=D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> \/ \/ \/ \/ \/


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

*Cujo tooth news*

See, Mike? NOW aren't you glad you installed
the extra smilies?

This is EXCELLENT news!


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## Anne Jones (Mar 27, 2006)

Glad to hear the good new !!!


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## Selena van Leeuwen (Mar 29, 2006)

=D> great news Mike!


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## Carmen van de Kamp (Apr 2, 2006)

great news Mike......


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Fantastic news Mike! =D> =D>


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## Julia Tompson (Mar 27, 2006)

\/ Good for you and Cujo =D>


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## Kristina Senter (Apr 4, 2006)

Glad to hear it, Mike!
BTW, I'm sure I missed it somewhere, how old is Cujo?
-Kristina


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## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

He'll be 2 years old on May 16th.


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