bobchic Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 We took Missy to the vet yesterday because we noticed her puppy canines (top and bottom) have not yet fallen out. They are very solid, the top baby teeth are starting to curl a bit and are so long they are sticking out of her lips very slightly (maybe 1mm). The adult teeth are growing in front of these. Her bottom two baby teeth are lined up with the others and the two adult teeth are coming out on the inside of her mouth. It all looks very disturbing. Missy is a 6-7 month old Pom pup. The vet seemed to think we should wait a month or two for them to fall out. Then worry about ripping them. She said bones and chewing on things wouldnt hep encourage them to fall out... What do you all think? I know I have already seen the vet, but I also know good advice can depend on experience as well (and this vet looked mid 20's). Also the fact she didnt exam her mouth before telling us not to worry kind of didnt help... Am I overreacting? I dont want to go get a second opinion if the information she gave us is correct. If it sounds a bit off then I will go to someone else... What do you all think? If they dont fall out on their own, will leaving them another month or two while the adult teeth are growing, do any long term damage? Thanks everyone! (yes I know... I am probly an over protective puppy mummy and everything told to me is probly correct.. I just need to reconfirm it all.. You know what its like ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellz Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 If it were me, I'd have them pulled. If she is 6 - 7 months old and the adult teeth are coming in and the milk teeth are still not showing ANY signs of budging, then it is time for the pull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puggy_puggy Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Has she been desexed? If not then pull the teeth when she is desexed. Personally if she doesn't need a GA for any other reason I wouldn't put her under for her teeth at this stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 My vets advice is that if the baby teeth are still there a week after the adult teeth have erupted, the baby teeth should be pulled. Retained baby canines are pretty common in smaller dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
all that glitters Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 My mums miniature pinscher had her 4 fang adult teeth come through but still had the 4 baby ones next to the adult ones, very bizarre! She ended up having them pulled while under for her spay operation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellz Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 One of the most important things to understand is that if the bite is allowed to come in misaligned (ie with adult teeth all over the place because of retained milk teeth), then it increases the likelihood of dental problems in the dog later on. Crooked teeth create many lovely little hidey holes for plaque and bacteria which in most cases are not attended to on a regular basis resulting in illness and pain for the dog in later life and lots of wealthy vets as a result of the tooth cleaning procedures and extractions that will result from them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra777 Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Her bottom two baby teeth are lined up with the others and the two adult teeth are coming out on the inside of her mouth. If you mean the adult canines are inside the baby ones at gum level then this is normal and where they should be. Can some Pom person just confirm whether this is a normal age for teething for the breed? Seems quite old to me for a canines to be erupting. If it was my puppy I would be giving it lots of chewy things, but I'm not sure this is really applicable to a toy breed. Is her breeder local - can they recommend a Pom savvy vet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seven Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 We rang our vet the other day re desexing and they said they do it at 5.5months and if any baby teeth are left they pull them. He said its because they should be gone around then. interesting how different vets have different opinions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pebbles Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 (edited) With the Toy breeds I've been involved with, not Poms. though, often those pesky canines just wont move and I've always had them extracted when the adult teeth are just through and the canines are really firmly entrenched. Seen some awful mouths when the baby teeth are left too long. eta - and I've had to insist with some Vets as they don't realise that Toy's can have this problem. Edited October 11, 2009 by pebbles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodle proud Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 (edited) I had a similar problem with my toy poodle. Before I realised the adult and puppy teeth were the same length and the baby tooth was firmly in there. It was not going anywhere. Unfortunately my pup was 8.5 months old by this stage and had been desexed at 5.5 months so it was going to mean another anaesthetic and $$$$ all for one little tooth. Last time middi was groomed the groomer sms'd me to tell me about it. I told here I was aware but it wasnt budging. She said try frozen brisket bones and rough tug games. We did both of these and sent some serious prayers upwards and voila one day during a tug game we notice a tiny bit of blood on a toy, 1 week later the tooth was out. :D :p I know this advice came from the groomer but our vet also said try frozen bones. There has been no problems with her gums or the adult teeth either side. Edited to say that this was a tooth on the upper left side of her jaw it may be a different scenario. It was a last resort for us and it worked. Good luck though! Edited October 11, 2009 by poodle proud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rappie Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 IMO whether or not to remove the baby teeth depends on whether the adult teeth are fully erupted, and whether the alignment of the teeth and jaw is normal. With normal alignment, then I would generally wait until the adult tooth is at least 2/3rd erupted, if not fully erupted, before extracting a deciduous canine. If the alignment is abnormal or we have some concern about whether proper development will be allowed to occur then they come out earlier, but it should be quite a delicate procedure. I would rather give the teeth a chance to come out by themselves if it is possible. They are often very very close to the erupting adult teeth and there is some concern over damaging the peridontal structures of the adult tooth if one is over zealous trying to extract a deciduous tooth that is not quite ready yet. Sometime we do a spey at 5.5 months and the adult tooth is only just erupting, I prefer to wait with those even if it might mean another anaesthetic - but often they come out of their own accord after 2-3 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louloud Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 I am a vet nurse and own a pom as well. I got her desexed at 6.5months old and she still had four remaining decidious teeth (all canines) and these were removed. Usually if they are still there at that age they are not going to fall out by themselves. A good client of ours is a pom breeder and dental issues are a big problem in poms and most of her pups need decidious teeth removed under GA as no matter how much they chew they will not fall out by themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 My vet always removes any retained baby teeth at 6 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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