retained deciduous (puppy) teeth

emilee · Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 4:34 pm Post subject: retained deciduous (puppy) teeth

hi all -- i wanted to check and see if anybody has experience with this. ursus is about 5.5 months old, and has lost most of his puppy (deciduous) teeth already. however, he still has his lower deciduous canines, and i noticed this morning that i can just barely see the adult teeth starting to come in behind them, like to the inside under where his tongue is. from what i've read on the web, if the adult teeth are poking through, the deciduous teeth should have fallen out by now, and if they haven't this could cause problems for the placement of the adult teeth. i felt around the deciduous teeth, and they still seem pretty solidly in place, like they don't wiggle around, and he's been playing tug with kumo (our other dog) without any sign of the teeth coming out.

so here's my question. has anybody dealt with this before? should i give it a week or so to see if the baby teeth will come out on their own, or is time of the essence as these web pages seem to indicate? if the teeth don't come out on their own, then surgery to remove the retained deciduous teeth will be necessary...

here's the web pages i've been looking at:

http://www.lbah.com/retdt.htm
http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/health/teeth.htm
http://www.dentalvet.com/patients/orthodontics/pet_orthodontics.htm

-em

sessa35 · Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 6:35 pm Post subject:

Hi Em,

Mija had this with one of her lower canines when she was the same age...no worries about surgery yet... Wink

When I consulted with our vet back then, she prescribed bones and chew things, lots of em too, keeping 'em chewing for longer periods--they wanted Mija to "work it out" on her own, which she did, thankfully...
now,
funny enough,
here I am now holding back on bones specifically b/c of her recent dentist visits....she totally misses them. Crying or Very sad

bones are good,
bones are bad...
who really knows.
Rolling Eyes

GOOD LUCK and Keep Ursus chewing and playing tug gently...let's just hope they come out on their own soon enough!

Very Happy

_________________
REASON #125, "Why I love my doodle so": After 1,547 photos taken, my doodle is still in an inspiration to capture on film!

emilee · Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 8:29 pm Post subject:

hey, thanks for the advice. ursus is happily chewing on a cow's ear right now, and we'll head to the store tomorrow for a couple of bones. i'll keep you all posted.

-em

emilee · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 10:27 am Post subject:

just wanted to post an update. we called the vet this morning, and they said not to panic, and give it some more time. the adult teeth should push the baby teeth out of the way as they grow in. apparently this is fairly common, and they can remove the baby teeth at the same time as ursus is neutered. they didn't seem to think that the baby teeth would cause problems for the placement of the adult teeth. so, we'll keep an eye on it i guess!

-em

AJWhiting · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 11:02 am Post subject:

The vet spoke to me about Oliver's teeth when his puppy teeth were taking a while to come out. She said the same thing, they can take them out when he is neutered, but they will usually work themselves out. Oliver used the molding in the kitchen to help.....
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www.adamwhiting.net

Napathedoodle · Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 6:53 am Post subject:

Napa didn't have his upper canines removed until after his adult teeth were already in. He was the same age, as well. The vet's never told me there were any problems other than they needed to come out. So, I wouldn't worry about it! It'll all work out in the end. You're just lucky that he's getting neutered. Napa already was, so it was going to be a separate surgery if he hadn't needed surgery for his front legs....
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Kristen and Napa-doodle, the chocolate doodle!

doodleallday · Junior Member Joined: 27 Jul 2006 Posts: 68

same thing happened with Libby. She had both of her upper canines in fully before her baby teeth fell out. The vet said it would probably be ok for a short time and they eventually fell out on their own. She did look funny for about two weeks, though! Smile

My vet said it's a fairly common occurence with poodles and poodle mixes.

doodleheaven · Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 10:57 am Post subject:

My vet said that one of the several reasons she waits to neuter a dog until 6 months at least, is so that she can deal with these teeth at the same time if needed. Bailey's teeth were fine but if not she preferred to only put him under once for both procedures if necessary.
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Lily and Bailey

dgeggis · Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 11:37 am Post subject:

That is a great idea. The fewer times they have to go under the better.
I'll keep that in mind when we get closer to neutering time. Cool

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Diane

emilee · Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 3:17 pm Post subject:

just wanted to post an update -- ursus lost his final two puppy teeth that were hanging on! one yesterday thanks to chewing on a bone, and one the day before thanks to chewing on his brother :)

-em

sessa35 · Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 4:53 pm Post subject:

Great news, Em!
THANKS for sharing!!

Good chewing, Ursus!!
Now you'll have big ADULT teeth to chomp with!! LOL!!
Very Happy

_________________
REASON #125, "Why I love my doodle so": After 1,547 photos taken, my doodle is still in an inspiration to capture on film!