Fractured teeth

[smartrock]

Chase developed some really nasty mouth odor about 2 weeks ago, not breath, mouth. Really nasty. I took him to the vet to have him checked out, they put him on antibiotics, which actually made the smell go away, and scheduled him for a cleaning and more thorough exam. During the cleaning/exam they found he has fractures in both upper 4th pre-molars, those gigantic molars they have on top. One is a "small slab fracture" and the other, I'm not certain, but she says there is some exposed pulp, which must be painful. He showed no signs of pain, no reluctance to eat, no reluctance to chew his rawhides, so I was a little surprised. We've never been big bone chewers here. He broke off the tips of his canines chewing knuckle bones a few years ago, so that was the end of those. He gets those Red Barn filled bones occasionally but doesn't really chew on them, mostly just licks at the filling. He's not interested in Nylabones or antlers. He'll chew sticks, which I try to discourage, and I give them rawhides to chew on. He didn't have much tartar, which is nice since we're not too good about brushing. Brushing wouldn't have prevented these anyway. I'm sad to know this has happened.

We have an appointment with a veterinary dental surgeon this week. Has anyone had dental work on tooth fractures in their dogs and what was done- repairs, extractions, root canal? Those teeth are so enormous, I hate to see them removed if they can be repaired.

[JenC]

Jed had a slab fracture on one of his back teeth. It didn't require any medical intervention. Then it developed a second slab fracture where it just looked bad. We had the tooth pulled and it was all better. Jed chews bones all the time. Vet told us that sometimes they just bite just right and cause the break. Probably in the same way I chipped a tooth pretty bad on a stupid lollipop.

[SunDance]

Danny had slab fractures and chipped teeth when he was much younger...no more hard chews for these guys. His teeth were filed/smoothed as necessary, some bonding put on as necessary, and scheduled for a recheck (6 months? a year?) to make sure his enamel was OK at that point. It was.

Sunnie had a split molar that ended up being extracted more recently...but her break could have been from hard chews years earlier.

[Java]

I think that's the same tooth my vet's keeping an eye on with my dog. If it turns out they have to remove it next year, I was told they'd have to do so in about three sections because it's such a big tooth. However, this tooth has an issue from the root up - not a fracture - so probably a different approach than for your situation. It's hard not to feel sad when your dog loses a tooth. Mine just had an upper canine extracted due to concussive trauma. Who knows from what but we're only throwing stuffies and road hockey balls for catch from now on.

[outrag]

Yukon had a slab fracture on his large upper premolar on left side. Only option was extraction, so I did that with a certified Vet dental Dr. The cause was his feverish chewing of hard bones (nylabones the hard ones). He no longer gets those. The surgery was very expensive but there were no other options but extraction.

Bob

[POPTOP]

Have encountered both situations. Potion came to us with one canine top snapped off. Dentist vet did a root canal at my vet's office. The tech told me it took longer to set up for the procedure than the procedure itself. Center of tooth removed and filled; no cap applied.

Several others here have had slab fractures of molars and they were removed. It surprised me how fast they recovered.

[windycanyon]

Vets often try to save canines but most molars end up coming out. Sonya has a slab fracture we've been watching for a few years now. Doesn't seem to bother her at all.

[JenC]

I wonder why so many folks go see dental specialists for teeth removals and quote such high prices. I love my vet for many reasons, one being reasonable operations. The tooth they removed on Jed was a regular HUGE molar. Just under $200 because we had tramadol and meloxicam on-hand from other dogs. She did it in her office, no dentist required.

[SunDance]

Because if there are complications...as there often are....you want someone who does dentals day in and day out and has all of the right equipment to address the issue. That doesn't describe the average vet.

We do the regular vet thing for most extractions but we've been to the vet dentist a good many times, too.

[outrag]

Ya there were too many stories of non dental vets leaving part of the root tooth still there, etc. What Yukon had done required going under, prelim bloodwork, xrays, etc. so it was pretty involved as far as I know.