I discovered today that Oscar (2.5 y/o Ridgeback) has broken what I think is the fourth premolar on his upper right jaw. It's the biggest of the premolars and should be pretty triangular (pointing down), but it looks like he sheared off about 1/8 - 3/16" of the point - it's a bit of a diagonal break. I can see the little spot where the pulp is, but it must have happened a little while ago, or not be super severe, as it's only a slightly darker tan color, not bloody or dark. *I don't think the inury is more than a few weeks old, as I do look at his teeth often...

It doesn't seem sensitive to him, and I haven't noticed him eating any differently, or with any less vigor, than usual, but I'm upset by this and not sure what to do. After a little research online I know there is a range of things that are offered, from crowns to root canals, but, while I'd pay any amount to keep him in good health, I don't want to jump to expensive options if they might not be necessary.

Anyone have any experience? (I know it's tough without a picture... I'll try to post one later) We've recently moved and I haven't even found a good new vet yet... guess I better get on that fast!

Many thanks,
~Natalya


*Just found Katherine's recent post about a broken CANINE (awful story!!!), and others regarding canine teeth - anyone know about premolars/molars though?...

Edited by Natalya Zahn (10/23/2007 03:01 PM)
Edit reason: did some forum searching

You need to get your dog in to the vet as soon as possible to find out if the pulp is exposed or not. If it's exposed and you get him in soon enough, you can get a root canal - expensive - and save the tooth. If you wait too long, the only option will be to pull it - much cheaper. If the pulp isn't exposed, you can just leave things as they are and just watch it. The problem with an exposed pulp isn't just pain, it's a direct route for infection into the tooth.

That tooth is anchored very solid in the jaw, removing it will be major surgery, it might be a toss-up with a root canal for expense. That tooth is the major food and bone crushing tooth in the mouth, along with the matching three.
From your description of the color it doesn't sound very bad. An honest, knowledgeable vet will be invaluable in this situation.

Thanks Elain & Debbie!

That all rings true with the little I read online... I have an appointment with our new vet in about an hour... we'll see how it goes - I'm obvioulsy crossing my fingers that it isn't that bad, a root canal would suck in more ways than one...

~Natalya

 Quote: Elaine Matthys

You need to get your dog in to the vet as soon as possible to find out if the pulp is exposed or not. If it's exposed and you get him in soon enough, you can get a root canal - expensive - and save the tooth. If you wait too long, the only option will be to pull it - much cheaper. If the pulp isn't exposed, you can just leave things as they are and just watch it. The problem with an exposed pulp isn't just pain, it's a direct route for infection into the tooth.

Ditto.

Good luck! Let us know!

Well, we just returned from the vet. Now, this is a NEW vet, as we've just moved and they were the most appealing practice I could find under short notice, but they AREN'T specialists in canine dentistry, and that was obvious.

Oscar was super duper and let the vet really examine all his teeth, including the broken one. The tooth isn't sensitive (which I knew from my examination, but Oscar didn't flinch when this stranger was in their either), but the break is clearly on the VERGE of exposing the pulp. He didn't do any more detailed poking than what he could with his fingers...

His thought - it isn't an emergency at this point, but we need to watch it every day for changes. Since the structure of the tooth is compromised now, and it is a heavily used molar, there is a good chance that it will either break further, or wear enough that it WILL expose the pulp at some point, and then we might only know if an infection moves in.

I got the sense that he wasn't too crazy about elective surgery (like a root canal) and that if it were his dog he'd wait it out till the tooth just needed to be pulled - problem solved. While any elective dentistry would surly be expensive, I don't like the idea of Oscar, at not even 3 y/o loosing one of the most important teeth in his mouth. SO, I asked for all the references for canine dental specialists in the area and am going to see if I can get a more informed opinion - wait time for a consult may be up to 4 months with those practices, but I guess that'll give us some time to see what the tooth is going to do...

One thing is for sure - no more marrow bones!!

~Natalya

I see you are in Northern New England. Any chance you go to Massachusetts on occasion? Tufts would be the place I'd want to go (if possible) if I had a dog with a big broken tooth.

 Quote:

I see you are in Northern New England. Any chance you go to Massachusetts on occasion?

I need to update my profile - we just moved from Vermont to.... Massachusetts!! We actually came down to this area a few years ago to get a consult on what we thought was a torn CCL - Tufts was booked for months, so we went to a place right around the corner called Vetcision. Long story short, he didn't have a torn ligament, but I was very impressed with the care. I'm sure Tufts is wonderful as well - it's very hard to find such services in Northern VT...

I'm going to call around tomorrow and see who, of my options, has any openings in the near future - I sort of wanted some more difinitive advice than just, "let's watch it and see if it gets infected!" and a specialist might be able to give me that. We'll just have to eat peanut butter and jelly and not go out to any movies for the next year in order to pay for it!

~Natalya

 Quote: natalya zahn

We'll just have to eat peanut butter and jelly and not go out to any movies for the next year in order to pay for it!

My wifes dog got really sick back when we were in junior high. Her parents were going to buy new furniture for their living room, but the couple thousand spent on the sick dog axed those plans. From then on her mom called the dog her "couch".



Are dog root canals very successful? I know human root canals are sometimes prone to problems, and would think a dog's would be even worse. I wonder if it might be best to go ahead and remove it.

I honestly have no idea, and know very little about canine dentistry or health for that matter. Just thinking out loud.

 Quote: michael_wise

From then on her mom called the dog her "couch".

That's fantastic!! In a sad sort of way...

I need to keep researching the root canal option - I don't know how successful they are either, and dogs obviously A. have much more powerful jaws than people, B. do more crunching/tearing and tough grinding with their teeth than people and, C. have little to no sense of self preservation - so it makes it hard to say, "OK, just stop chewing so hard on one side of your mouth!" I've heard there are some amazing doggie dentists out there, so I'm guessing, for a few grand ( :eek you can get a pretty durable job done... but there's always room for failure...

I'll keep this thread updated as I continue our journey into bankruptcy ...

~Natalya