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It may or may not need to be fixed; she may or may not be in pain.
My dog had a loose tooth after lunging for something on the ground; long story made short, she was given antibiotics as we were about to go on a trip. She didn't act like she was in pain in the slightest. Zero. Eating and drinking like normal. The vet believed that as long as she was on the antibiotic (as it was one that also worked on preventing bone infection, too), she would be fine until we got home, and indeed, she appeared fine on the trip. Like enthusiastically fine. Like normal.
Came home, went to the vet to get the tooth removed. Result? 7 teeth removed - it is either cancer or a really bad infection, waiting for results on that. And it wasn't hard to remove them (including the lower canine, which is normally a bigger deal to remove), because the top of her jaw bone was mush, thus they weren't really being held in place any more. And not a whimper, or eating less or anything showing that from my girl.
If I'd had even the slightest concern while at the vet's initially that this could have been the outcome, I'd have postponed the trip and had the surgery that day.
So I'd like to say that well, a chipped tooth shouldn't be a big deal, and really, I still think that is true. But you know, after this experience, my advice would be to let your vet see what he/she thinks about it. Yeah, I know that is what I did, and still my result sucks. But given what we found when we went to remove the tooth, I can say with certainty that some dogs hide pain 100% - I still can't believe she showed no signs of pain, given the shape her teeth were in. I am still reeling, in fact.
I can't tell you how horrible I feel about this. The only thing that could make this feel worse would be if I hadn't even had it checked out with a vet. It doesn't always turn out this way - I've had dogs with a chipped tooth before that had absolutely no issues. But at least go and try to make sure that you are dealing with a "no issues" situation. This is my first experience with such a thing, and I've had dogs for 3 decades.
Good luck and I hope it turns out to be a no big deal thing for you guys.
Last edited by sugarsugar; 08-14-2011 at 10:13 PM..
As the others have posted, it's sometimes hard to tell. One of my dogs had a slab fracture and the only way I found out was an unusual bad odor coming from her mouth. Off to the vet we went and the tooth had to be removed a day or two later. Also, if your dog is licking his/her lips excessively, or salivating, that's another telltale sign of something going on.
Please take her to the vet for a professional opinion. The last thing that you would want is for her to be in pain and we all know how painful dental problems can be.
If it is one of her canines I would take her to a canine dentist.
Most regular vets are poorly equipped to deal with dog dental issues.
A broken canine can let in an infection to the root of the tooth and it can be much worse than initial. The canines have very long roots.....upper canine issues can get involved with the nasal cavity and lower canine roots are part of the support structure for the lower jaw.
If it is an incisor - I would just watch and see.
If it is a molar I guess it depends on the amount - I have seen them crack but not chip though.
This article was pulled off the internet. I believe it's very important to read and understand the points that are being made.
Several different types of tooth fractures may occur in pets, with crown fractures being the most common. There are basically 2 types of crown fractures; Complicated crown fractures (charted as CCF) and Uncomplicated crown fractures (charted as UCF). [mod]copyright violation, 1-2 sentences and link[/mod]
Last edited by SouthernBelleInUtah; 01-05-2014 at 04:18 PM..
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