Does anyone have any experience with a working dog that has had a canine tooth replaced with a titanium replacement. We are exploring our options. The dog in question is a very productive dual purpose male malinois police dog appox. three years of age. Both of his lower canine teeth are broken. The vet says that he could work out the rest of his career in his current condition. However he referred us to another vet whom I haven't called yet. I am seeking info from folks that have had this done to their dogs. My biggest concern is durability. Will the implants be sturdy enough for a police dog?

My SchH3 female has a titanium cap on a lower canine. It was snapped off in a freak accident when she was less than 8 months old. First a human dentist did a build up, which after a few months, just disappeared. Then I had a vet dentist speialist do the cap. He said that he had done quite a few on local police K-9s who were encourage to bite pipes and other hard objects, and a couple who broke them on kennel fencing.

Kyra has had her cap for nearly 4 years. She does bite work regularly, chews bones, eats raw chicken occassionally, and every time I check it, the cap is still tight.

One of our P.S.D.'s got a titanium K9 replacment after being hit by a car. He finished out his career without anyone being able to tell he had the prosthetic tooth.

Was his done by Dr. Jon Showalter Matt???? He visits alot of local offices to do these.

Yes, Dr. Showalter installed the tooth. It was arranged through Dr. Bebe at Northview Animal Hospital. I heard that he has an office in Cranberry now but I'm not positive.

A dog at my club (in Germany) has two Titanium teeth. They were put in two years ago. The dog does Schutzhund work 4-5 times a week…

Thanks for the responses. All good news. I know that years ago most of the replacement teeth did not hold up. Apparently, a better procedure has been developed. I think that we will procede with the new titanium teeth. The dog is certainly worth every penny. I can't stand the thought of him going the rest of his life snaggle toothed.

How bad are the breaks? My GSD broke his upper fang (not sure what the correct name is) took about a mil from the top and sheared straight through the pulp cavity - luckily it broke like glass leaving a sharp tip - we were able to see a specailist animal dentist who saved the tooth by drilling out the pulp and filling with a special rubber mix and cement. The dentist said that the last time he filled anything so big was on a brown bear at the local zoo! Cost us damn near 1000 pounds but worth every penny. Also if the pulp cavity is damaged it has to be removed otherwise the dog will get an abcess.

Some new info for an old post...
Just so everyone understands, Titanium is NOT stronger than bone. In fact, there is no metal alloy that can be implanted that is stronger than bone and hold up through normal activities over extended time like real bone can.

In a situation where you are doing a titanium cap (as compared to a complete removal and implantation of a prosthesis). You lose the enamel layer (they grind this away) which is the strongest part, and they likely take off length of the canine (make it shorter). The titanium, gold, or whatever the cap is made of, is just a protective barrier. It gives some strength... but not to the degree you had before. If you have the option of keeping the natural teeth, its best to do it. I know its not always possible... and to those that must cap or have prosthetics implanted, just keep in mind that its not as strong as what was there before. If bone can break, so can Titanium implants - eaven easier. The reason is the stronger the metal, the more brittle it becomes. Meaning it is more likely to break or leave what is called "wear debris". For dental implants, wear debris is not such a big deal, for orthopedic implants (hips) it is a big deal as the metal particles from wear debris become loose around the joint and can cause inflamation, pain, and make arthritic conditions worse. For Dental implants, the breakage would be of higher concern.

Yes, they are constantly getting better at improving the implants, but saving the real deal is the best option if possible. Bone, while being very strong, has the advantage of being flexible (to a degree). Thats why your bones can last a lifetime and the average lifespan of an orthopedic implant is about 10% of that.

Not trying to be on a soap box. I'm well aware that there are times that this is the best course of action. I just think that people sometimes don't understand that they will not be getting a Bionic Dog. Titanium sounds great, everyone thinks its super tough, but fact is, what god gave you is better. If bone can fail, implants/capping are more likely to do so under the same conditions that caused the problem in the first place.

It has been a while since I studied biomaterials, but titanium has the closest mechanical properties to bone as compared to other metals. Ie it reacts like bone under loading conditions.(ie it will flex like bone but wont break as easily as bone). I do not remember who was doing the work but someone was developing an alloy called Ti1313 that almost exactly duplicated the mechanical properties of bone. While I have never worked with "teeth", the obvious problem area is where and how the replacement is mated with body.
Ideally you want the bones to grow into the implant. I doubt if that is done with teeth though, it would take too long, that would mean that there is some sort of cement used. The problem is that cements usually give off heat when they cure and that kills the surrounding tissues.

In the end, I would suspect that the primary factor in the longevity of a tooth implant is a direct function of the skill/expertise of the person doing the implanting and his/her proper selection of bonding materials.

Now as far as tooth "wear" is concerned, I would think that a titanium nitride or zirconium nitride coating on the exposed parts of the "tooth" would do the trick, of course it would look a bit gaudy.