# opinions on broken teeth



## Tamara McIntosh (Jul 14, 2009)

Hello everyone,

I need advice on teeth. My dog has broken the tooth right beside his canine. I have no idea how he broke it.

Has anyone had an issue like this and what are treatment options?

I find the vets in my area have no idea about working dogs, and they follow every dental visit with "and don't let them chew hard bones or play tug". That would pretty much be the mental death of my dog, so I am aksing for opinions from working people before I go to the appt.

All info appreciated!

Tamara McIntosh


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## Alison Grubb (Nov 18, 2009)

One of my dogs broke one of his pre-molars off a while back. I just had the thing pulled and some Consil (it comes as either a putty or granules and is supposed to facilitate bone growth) in the hole in his jaw bone. He is a tad sensitive on that side of the mouth, but it has really just amounted to that he prefers to turn his head to the right instead of the left. He has not refused to bite or come off of a bite as a result of the dental work.

Is your dog's root canal exposed? I think that is the part that is painful and can lead to further issues if I am not mistaken. If the canal is not exposed and it doesn't bother the dog you may not need to do anything at all. Pulling or capping the tooth otherwise is the only kind of treatment I have observed.


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## Adam Rawlings (Feb 27, 2009)

The cheapest option would be too have the tooth pulled. I doubt it would have any impact on bite work.


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

What Adam said.
My adult GSD broke her canine off several months ago. I let it go because it didn't "look" bad yet - was still white, just broken.
Recently, it started to turn grey and now it's really nasty looking and coming apart. It has to be pulled now. Price difference, $120 or so at my vet clinic to have a dental and yank the bad canine, $2500 to have it root canaled and crowned - to me, not worth it.

Look at it this way, with a canine that's a major structural tooth in the jaw, other teeth, not so much. I would probably have it pulled. The vet said the only problem with yanking canines out is that if you do bitework, since it's a structural tooth with huge roots, you run the risk of snapping off the opposing (her's is on the bottom) canine, or possibly breaking the jaw - I don't think this is as big of a concern with smaller teeth though.


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## Skip Morgart (Dec 19, 2008)

A police service dog (that trains at my SchH club) had a couple canines break off. The police dept had already spent a wad on the dog's training, so they replaced all 4 with Titanium. Talk about bling!


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## will fernandez (May 17, 2006)

the majority of the dogs on my unit are missing a canine or two. Most of their grips and bite pressure actually improved after the problem teeth were removed. Removing them is not that big of a deal. Leaving them in to get infected is the real problem.


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## Ryan Venables (Sep 15, 2010)

Skip Morgart said:


> A police service dog (that trains at my SchH club) had a couple canines break off. The police dept had already spent a wad on the dog's training, so they replaced all 4 with Titanium. Talk about bling!


We had a dutchie that was a phenomenal PSD but he also liked to bite the cage in the cruiser. He broke all of his teeth... they capped all of his teeth with titanium... looked like Jaws from Bond.


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## Bianca Soler (Dec 4, 2010)

My husband specializes in Veterinary Dentistry. They can be replaced. You just have to find a local veterinary office that knows what they are doing and either specialize in K9 Dentistry or has experience in Dentistry. Not every Animal Hospital works on teeth.:-D Leaving it is like if we break a tooth, it will hurt and only get worse, it never gets better!


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## Leslie Patterson (Mar 6, 2008)

[FONT=&quot]2 of my dogs have had broken teeth where the root was exposed. They were both young dogs and both had "vital pulpotomies" sp?- partial root canal (saves the tooth, keeps it alive) because I got them in, in enough time. I think you have to catch it pretty quick to do that though? Had it done at a vet dentist. It is expensive, almost a thousand.


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## Erynn Lucas (Dec 10, 2008)

I have seen a number of dogs with pulled teeth that were still very successful in bitesports. As long as it isn't a canine or a big molar, shouldn't be a problem to have it pulled. That is the cheapest fix. I too have seen owners of dogs that have broken canines pay for the titanium. Very cool to see!, but you wouldn't need it on a small tooth.


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## kendell jones (Aug 26, 2009)

if it doesnt seem to be causing any major problems, I'd just let it go. 

One of my dogs has a bunch of broken teeth, but no issues so far. I keep an eye on them, but so far it hasn't really been an issue.


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