Moved here ... question from Brianah:

 Quote: Brianah Maloney

 Quote: Mike Arnold

One of mine broke two teeth at different times. Both times I went to a vet specializing in dental work. Both times, if left untreated, the eventual outcome would have been infections. I'm not talking about just dental infections, I'm talking about resulting body organ infections. And often a dog does not present with the symptoms of infections until it is rather along in distress.

One tooth was pulled.

One tooth had a root canal and cap.

A vet dentist can perform a root canal and cap the tooth, or pull it.

I was and am fortunate that the vet dentist is also the dentist to many law enforcement agencies and is very practiced and experienced with big dog dentistry. Didn't hurt that he was a professor at Cornell.

But the upshot is, you should have the dog checked out by a competent vet dentist. And as a spoiler alert, it ain't cheap to have dental work performed.

In my opinion, if you value your dog, as you very much seem to, you will seek out a competent vet dentist to make sure there are no issues that require attention.

Any other course of action, again in my opinion, is a crap shoot.

Do you think "regular" vets may ignore broken teeth that need to be removed? What you say makes me nervous. My dog has been to many vets over the years. All have seen her missing teeth. They have not pulled them. But one put some "stuff" on one of the canines...
Should i have taken her to a specialist? My vets seem to see her teeth, and act like they are fine.

Do they always need to be pulled or filled?
Do they ever fill them with the dog awake?

Brianah,

I should have noted up front that my daughter found both tooth issues, and I went to my vet for the first one, and she, the vet, recommended that I go to the vet dentist. Which I did. Resulted in a root canal and cap.

The second tooth issue discovered by my daughter seemed much the same to me, so I just went to the vet dentist. It was the same dog, and the upshot of that visit was a pulled tooth.

Both decisions had to do with the advisability of leaving the tooth in the context of was the tooth needed. In one case yes, in the second no.

In both cases, left untreated the either tooth would likely have become infected, and the infection would have caused other infections.

Long answer. So go to your vet and get an opinion. Many vets are not all that practiced in dentistry so...

Broken teeth are expensive to pull, requiring anesthesia, pre-op blood work, antibiotics, etc. So, no, I don't think any competent vet that recognizes a patient's seriously broken tooth is ignoring it. Not only is it potential income for the vet, it is a serious health risk for the animal.

I would guess that the more common scenario is a vet that advises dental work, which is declined by the pet owner because of the cost.

Some broken teeth are more serious than others. Fanny, my Corgi, has a "slab fracture" of a tooth that causes her no problems. It's a shallow break, and doesn't expose the root, so it's just a "cosmetic" issue. Something to watch, but it doesn't need treatment. Two other dogs of mine have had teeth pulled because of more serious fractures. So it depends.

A dog could not have a tooth extracted, drilled, or filled without anesthesia.

This is a timely subject for me as I have an appointment next week to have Logan's teeth looked at. I'm going to my GP vet, but I'm sure that, if he needs any work done, she will refer me to a specialist.

He has a slab fracture on the outside of the largest molar on the upper right that has been there for close to a year. The vet has seen it before and didn't seem concerned. But I myself am concerned, all the more so from reading these recent posts, in this thread and the one this was moved from. So I want it looked at again.

Both of his lower canines also have the tops chipped off of them. Not a large amount, but the edges are very sharp. He also has deep grooves all the way up the back sides of these lower canines.

Needless to say, I'm pretty nervous about what's going to be needed. Yes, the cost does concern me, but it is what it is, I will find a way to pay for it. I'm much more concerned about what he's going to have to go through.

Ms. Grissom,

Don't expect the worse. If your vet has looked at the teeth and has not determined any issues, unless don't trust your vet, there probably isn't a problem.

If I painted a picture of vet incompetence in re tooth issues, it wasn't my intention. My message is simply that tooth issues can lead to more serious issues if not checked out and evaluated by a competent vet, one you trust.

In my experience, and my mutt, she, the dog, thought she could chew through anything, and grab anything, and the outcomes, twice, were proof she bit off more than she could chew.

My mantra in re my dogs is that I'd rather be paranoid than surprised. Well, not quite that extreme but certainly vigilant. I do trust my vet GP.

Thank you for the reassurance, Mike. No, I didn't take it that you were painting a picture of vet incompetence, but your post along with all the others did get me thinking that it's time to get my guy's teeth looked at again.

I do trust my vet, and she has seen the slab fracture before, but she has not seen the new damage I noticed to his canines, so that's what I'm most worried about. But I am a worrier by nature, and I definitely fall on the vigilant side when it comes to any medical issues, human or canine!

Cheri, don't be too worried yet. Kasey smashed mouth first into a brick wall trying to catch a ball, ugh. Two of the top middle front teeth literally broke in half vertically - there was about 1/3 or less of the tooth sticking out from the gum (freaked me out!). Called my vet and they had me call the dental vet who took him right in. I could tell Kasey was in pain cause he normally doesn't show pain.

They assessed the situation and explained my choices saying that it would be much more extensive if we pulled them - a longer rehab. But that many times you can do a pulpectomy and then cap them (not the same expensive thing as a crown). It's like a root canal. We chose that. They didn't have to do a general anesthesia for that, they just gave him an IV relaxation that made him just want to sleep. He laid there all calm and still while they did the procedure and in an hour he was up and walking out.

So it's not always as bad as we are afraid it will be.

I had Logan to my vet a couple days ago, and she felt he needed to see a canine dentist. I have an appointment next Wednesday. Just an observation here. Any vet school students thinking about a specialty ought to look into dentistry. There are only three board-certified veterinary dental specialists in all of Michigan. I even looked in my neighboring state of Ohio, and they only have one. I am going to the one recommended by my regular vet. He was her dentistry instructor in vet school! He's also pretty close to me.

Lori, am I to understand Kasey went through what amounts to a root canal without anesthesia, just IV sedation? Seems like it would be very painful, though it doesn't sound like it was. I'm glad he's okay now! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Logan's teeth are fixable. I don't even want to think about the bill.

This caught my attention as the Buzzdog just had a broken tooth fixed two days ago. He had a slab fracture of the lower right canine that extended 5 mm below the gumline and exposed the pulp cavity. We are fortunate to live in a town with a large veterinary teaching hospital and more DVM specialists per square meter than almost anywhere else in the US, so my regular vet called in a board-certified veterinary dentist to see if the tooth could be saved. Long story short, the vet dentist did a really neat job: root canal, reshaped the remaining 80% of the tooth, and applied a UV-light-cured composite to rebuild and seal the damaged surfaces. Buzz was anesthetized for all this and also had his other teeth thoroughly cleaned while he was under. The dental vet did ask if the dog did bite work and commented that he would have placed a metal cap on the tooth in that case, but we agreed that the Buzzer did not need a grill to do rally and agility. He also said that a cap could still be put on the tooth in future if necessary, but thought it unlikely.

It was really interesting to see all this. One of my previous dogs had a snapped off canine and he had a root canal and metal cap, but that was 8 years ago and veterinary dentistry is getting even more sophisticated. I hadn't seen the composite restoration before. One point the vet dentist made that I hadn't thought about: a broken tooth often creates very sharp edges in the mouth that can cause serious lacerations to the tongue or cheek tissue with a sudden jolt - he said he has seen some bad bleeds from that kind of injury. Plus of course the pain and risk of infection from an exposed pulp cavity.

I have no idea how the Buzzer busted his tooth, although he does like to run around at high speed with his mouth open. Fortunately it was clearly visible and I spotted it almost at once. Note to self, though, to be more vigilant about frequent teeth inspections for both dogs.

I have a great vet, but I agree with her that canine dentistry is best done by a specialist if possible. Most general vets just don't have that expertise. Yesterday the Buzzer was a bit cranky - we popped some tramadol - but today he is very perky and doesn't seem to need any more dope. Anesthesia for my wallet, alas, is another matter.

 Quote: Sarah Ward

Note to self, though, to be more vigilant about frequent teeth inspections for both dogs.

Yep, I sent that note to myself, too. I hope everyone reading this thread does the same. I sincerely thought I was doing a good job of watching for issues, but clearly I was not vigilant enough.