right upper canine broken...

[vale]

Hi everyone,

I found out this morning that my 13wo puppy has a broken canine. I can actually see something rose in what's left of it. I have no idea how or when this happened. He probably tried to eat something he couldn't, such as the glass table top in the living room, or something outside that I didn't see.

He is going to lose that tooth in a matter of weeks, but I just don't want it to hurt him. I would call my vet but they're not open yet, so I'm asking you guys.

Do you think it hurts? If I couldn't see that rose thing inside I wouldn't be so worried...

[spidey]

It should probably be extracted, what you can see inside there is the pulp of the tooth, which means that there is now a direct contact between the outside and the dog's bloodstream - a tooth broken like this is a risk for serious infection, as well as damage to the tooth bud of his adult (permanent) canine tooth. This is an important tooth, and if this were my dog, I would have the broken baby tooth extracted (BY A COMPETENT VET TRAINED IN DENTISTRY) asap (my puppy broke the big premolar and I had that extracted, now her adult tooth is gorgeous - BUT she only had the broken tooth for a few days and already she had changes in her liver values on bloodwork related to infection, which resolved afterward - infection from broken teeth is very common).

[vale]

Good. Thanks for your fast reply ;) After what you said I decided to call my vet. I made an appointment this afternoon. She'll look at it and determine if it needs any treatment. She talked about giving him antibiotics? I don't think I'm going to put him on antibiotics until it falls out, I mean, it could take several weeks and I read that those upper canines are usually the last ones to fall. I'd rather have it extracted. Then I'm going to be 100% sure my puppy won't get any kind of infection because of it... especially since he's a curious little boy and puts his mouth in every possible place and on every possible thing he can reach!

[spidey]

He will need antibiotics even if you have it extracted, to ward off any infection he's already developed. But I would find another vet if yours doesn't want to extract it if the pulp is exposed, it is standard modern care to extract a broken baby tooth if the pulp is exposed, and by not doing so, you are risking both the puppy's health, and the adult tooth. I also didn't initially want to extract my puppy's broken baby premolar, but I did my homework and changed my mind (and I now work for the vet who did the extraction).

[vale]

Well, I went to the appointment and my vet (who can be the surgery to remove the broken tooth) told me it was better to extract it since it looks really bad. Actually, his broken canine is of the same length as his regular front teeth - it's badly broken.

She told me about the pulp and said that because it's so exposed, the puppy is probably feeling it - the same feeling we get when it happens to human! So eating could be hurtful, drinking water could be hurtful, having it exposed to warm or cold could also be hurtful... and that, even if he doesn't really show it. Thinking of it, I did notice he was a little reticent to eat his food for the past couple of days. I should have been worried but I thought he was being capricious because I'd been giving him treats he really likes lately.

Anyways, my vet would charge me $155 to $200 + taxes to get everything done (the anaesthesia is expensive), so I called another vet (the one my mum has been going to for several years now) and they'd charge me $100 to $150 tx in. There's quite a big difference, and I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't 100% sure that this other vet is competent. He's actually a renowned vet here, I just found it easier for me to bring Blade to a vet closer to my place when he got sick for the first time.

As for the antibiotics, they'll probably be giving him an injection that lasts for 3 days instead of having to give pills to him for a couple of days. I'm going to the new vet tomorrow morning because he wants to check on Blade first. Then we'll fix an appointment for surgery.

As for you working for the vet that extracted your puppy's tooth, I'm glad you were the one replying to my post ;) You've probably gained experience there that not many of us has here :P Thank you so much for the quick replies :)

[vale]

So I went to this other vet today. He looked at Blade's broken canine and told me there's no need to extract the tooth. He's an awesome vet and I'm sure that if there was any risk of endangering the puppy's life he'd do something about it. He touched the broken tooth several times to make sure it actually doesn't hurt and then decided to leave it there. He said that since his teeth are pretty small for a rottweiler (can't be a bad thing, can it ) it will fall out quickly and is less likely to get infected.

I'm sure he's doing the right thing - he's an animal lover, he actually rescues any kind of monkeys or chimpanzees that scientists get rid of (the ones that are now useless to them, the ones they used, abused or neglected in their labs). He loves animals of all kinds, so I'm not worried about his decision not to extract the tooth.

[meg8777]

My puppy is the same age and she just had the same thing happen. The canine split in half to the gum and the root is wide open. We called our vet and he said just to make sure she keeps eating and drinking normally and to watch the gumline for any change. He was more worried about the effects of putting her under to remove it and infection from that being worse than just leaving it alone. So far she doesn't seem to be having any problems and doesn't display any sensitivity. She's even chewing on bones with it still. I'm just hoping it falls out soon so that I can stop worrying!

[vale]

Actually, I found out this morning that he also broke his other upper canine... Exactly like the other. It's broken at the same length, and I also see the pulp in this one. Could it be because his adult teeth are pushing on the baby ones? Both broken teeth don't hurt him, but it looks weird!