# Broken canine tooth options



## badgerfan1 (Mar 7, 2008)

My 2 1/2 year old chocolate just broke one of her upper canine teeth. My vet told me the only two options were a root canal ($950-1100) or to have the tooth pulled ($150). Have any of you had a dog break a canine? What treatment option did you choose? If you had it pulled, were there any performance difficulties that ensued?

Thanks for your input!


DJ


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## FOM (Jan 17, 2003)

My knuckle head has two teeth missing from the top row - not the canines, but the ones on the inside on them......he is retrieving okay and can eat and chew bones okay......he looks like buckwheat!

I'd vote for just pulling the tooth - a root canal doesn't mean the tooth will be saved and it is likely you'll have to have to pulled down the road......

FOM


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## Troopers Mom (Nov 19, 2005)

I have a little mix breed dog that had broken all 4 canines when I got him. We took him to a canine dental specialist and after hearing all the options we chose root canal on all 4. If you pull a canine, it will disfigure the appearance of the mouth. He had this done at age 1 1/2 and he is now pushing 9 years old. He still has all his teeth.

Arleen


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## greg ye (Nov 28, 2007)

Root canal for sure w/ GOLD CROWN!


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## windycanyon (Dec 21, 2007)

Hopefully DMA will step in here. We had a dental specialist vet speak to kennel club shortly after Doug's dog mistook a rock for his duck and broke 2 incisors and a canine. The canines and the back molars are very important teeth, not so for the incisors (inside the canines), etc. Doug ended up going for the root canal as did another lab owner locally. You need to move relatively fast on that decision.. I believe w/in 2 wks if possible. Sorry.


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## Guest (May 5, 2008)

my daughters schnauzer broke an upper canine had it pulled he feels great.


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## Lance-CO (Jan 10, 2003)

Need more information. Is it a vertical fracture for example from the crown portion to the bone support or root tip? It can also could be horizontal fracture like from one side to the other side. Is the nerve exposed? I could only tell you people teeth, you could never replace a tooth as good as your natural tooth. If you can save them -*save them*. The most serious is the vertical fracture from the crown to the root tip, you have to extract them. If the vertical fracture is only in the crown portion above the bone support, you can put a crown on the tooth to protect the tooth from any farther damage. (not always a sure thing but its the most conservative procedure before getting it extracted). If the nerve is exposed, root canal is needed to remove the pain; and crown buld-up and a crown to protect the tooth from any farther damage or fracture

Angelo


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## DougM (May 5, 2008)

You don't mention where the tooth is broken - did she wind up with the nerve exposed? If so, then a root canal is probably the only real choice given her age. We've had to deal with more than a few broken teeth over the years, and it really sucks to have happen with such a young dog.


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## greg ye (Nov 28, 2007)

Root canal for sure, but maybe just a synthetic filling. Had a peake we did root canal on and then did a rebuild or filling. The material they used was to provide a "chemical" bond but it fell out a short time later. So, asked my Dad about it, he's a dentist, said the chemical bond is not enough, you "need" to do a mechanical bond too. Anyway, the tooth, a canine, lasted more than 8 yrs. and he still had it when he passed away.


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## L J Monlezun (Mar 8, 2007)

My older hunting dog was involved in a 4 wheeler accident and broke one of her canines over 2 years ago, she still has the tooth today. Watch the tooth, if it doesn't get infected or cause problems for the dog do nothing.

Good luck.


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## badgerfan1 (Mar 7, 2008)

A little more info . . . 

The tooth is broken off about half way down. There is pulp exposed, but it doesn't seem to be causing her any pain right now. One thing I failed to mention before, is that she is 47 days pregnant . . . so, if it is true that a root canal would have to be done within two weeks, that will pretty muh ensure that we just have it extracted when she is done whelping. 

Thanks again for everyone's input.

DJ


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## Mistyriver (May 19, 2005)

Funny I just had this conversation with my Vet this past Saturday when I brought my dogs in for their annual check up. We were talking about the younger dogs teeth and cleaning teeth and such and she said she noticed a few small holes in a couple of back teeth in my young lab. She said they are probably nothing and if I ever have her teeth clean someone could check them out then. I jokingly said oh so do you fill those? Her reply was only if you fill like spending mega bucks on a dogs tooth. She said root canals and filling teeth are very very expensive and it is much better and cheaper just to pull the tooth. Dogs can do fine with the missing teeth. But then again if you have the bucks then I suggest you put gold crowns on also. :wink:


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## DougM (May 5, 2008)

Oooooh...I think I'd err on the side of caution and just keep an eye on things until she's done weaning her pups before making a decision about a root canal. As long as she doesn't develop an infection, isn't in pain, and can eat OK, she should be alright. I have an ancient (15+) rescue Lab who has broken and/or worn his lower canines down to 1/8th" nubs - and his incisors down to below his gumline - and he manages just fine. Doesn't seem to be in any pain, even though his mouth looks like a disaster area.


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## Lance-CO (Jan 10, 2003)

badgerfan1 said:


> A little more info . . .
> 
> The tooth is broken off about half way down. There is pulp exposed, but it doesn't seem to be causing her any pain right now. One thing I failed to mention before, is that she is 47 days pregnant . . . so, if it is true that a root canal would have to be done within two weeks, that will pretty muh ensure that we just have it extracted when she is done whelping.
> 
> ...


Ouch, if that is a person. If she can talked, I bet she is in pain. If I have a pregnant patient that is in pain, I will do the least abrasive procedure called pulpectomy instead of a root canal to get her out of pain until she has her baby. I'm no vet, but in human, canine teeth are important in guiding our occlusion (our bite) beside just for tearing food.


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## DMA (Jan 9, 2008)

Root canal for sure asap. I just went through it and am glad I had it done. There is risk with having a K9 pulled. It will be more difficult for the dog to hold missing the K9.


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## Novemberwitch (Mar 7, 2006)

Ok, I have a 2 year old ylf with a chipped upper K9 that causes her no problems,
but it does drag on birds that she carries. I was wondering if this can be filed down to make it smooth to prevent it from tearing birds.


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## jeff t. (Jul 24, 2003)

badgerfan1 said:


> The tooth is broken off about half way down. There is pulp exposed, but it doesn't seem to be causing her any pain right now.


How can that not be painful?

Sometimes they are so stoic that it is hard to tell when they hurt.


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## JoAnn Stancer (Oct 17, 2006)

If the pulp cavity is visible then the nerve is exposed and she will be feeling pain. If you stick a prob in the hole you will see her flinch which means she feels anything that touches the pulp cavity on that tooth. You are in a tough spot right now with her being pregnant. I would discuss all the options with you vet as in if you could put her on anytype of pain medication while being pregnant. She will not show pain or usually stop eating because dogs don't like to show their pain because of other animals thinking they are weak and they don't want to put themselves in that situation. She will probally continue to eat since the other alternative is starving which they don't like to do either. The risk you pose by waiting is she could get bacteria up in the opening and that could create an abcess. My dog broke off her canine and I waited a month because the pulp cavity wasn't exposed at that time and then by the time I took her in we stuck a probe in there and she flinched like mad and we put her under and pulled the tooth then. She was old so I didn't do a root canel but on a young dog I would opt for a root canel. Good luck with your decision and with the upcoming litter.


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## Henry V (Apr 7, 2004)

Ouch. I have had several dogs in litters with overbites. From what I recall a couple of those dogs had to have both canine teeth pulled at a relatively young age. Those dogs did just fine even without both canines. Not sure what the effects would be of just losing one.


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## blind ambition (Oct 8, 2006)

Our FCR male lost 1/2 his left canine and the pulp was exposed, the dental specialist just plugged the top of the area and told us to watch for changes in tooth colour or for pain. He opted to leave the nerve live and just check on it's progress. It has been fine for almost 4 years, the tooth is still alive and yet causes no pain. I'd check if this option is possible in your dog's case but definitely avoid extraction.


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## MikeMeek (May 6, 2008)

I just couldn't resist posting on this topic since I am a dentist for canine owners...not a vet. The fundamentals of the issue are common though.

First and foremost, this is an emotional issue. None of us like to "remove" body parts. I am willing to acknowledge that as part of the analysis.

I have read the description of this owner's canine situation and it doesn't sound like the vertical fracture issue plays into the decision, so I won't dwell on that.

The issue for me when I treatment plan root canal/crown procedures for people is long term prognosis. Will this treatment work over the long haul. The part of the equation that determines this most of the time is how the tooth functions in the person's bite. Does the tooth participate in heavy crushing or lots of sheer forces like those involved in holding a bumper or tearing at meat in the case of a dog. In the case of a canine, the tooth is very long above the gum line and is in fact, subject to a lot of force when the dog is doing what labs to best, retrieve, chew, and otherwise carry on.

The reason that I consider function is that when the clinical crown of a tooth breaks in half or off completely, we have to use all sorts of material magic to put them back together. They are never as strong as what mother nature made in the first place. In addition, root canal treatment of the tooth cause histologic changes in the root structure and periodontal ligament support of the tooth over time that makes the tooth brittle and more subject to fracture. This is not a good combination of factors for a retriever's canine given their all out enthusiasm for a good fetch/hold, and gnaw. 

So bottom line is that restoring the canine for me sounds like a long shot. Sure, it is better to have all functional teeth, especially the canines and molars, but sometimes, due to accidents, this is simply not possible.

All that being said, other than the dog's lip catching on the opposing canine from time to time, they will not notice a difference in function and their retrieving activity will be per usual. Don't worry about that.

As far as pain with the current situation, most likely, the pulp tissue is now necrotic or dead and is not causing the dog pain with eating or drinking. A direct pulp exposure results in fairly rapid loss of vitality of the pulp which extinguishes any nerve transmission from the tooth. This situation will be Okay for a time, enough time to get the pups whelped. Then, the root canal therapy or extraction can occur. If left for months, an abscess will eventually form which will bring with it another basket of problems. Short term though, you are all right to keep the well being of the pups foremost.

Bottom line is that your pup will be okay either way, but if it was me, I would not invest in the heroic dental treatment. In addition, I would not act to treat the situation until the pups were on the ground.

Hope this helps,
Mike


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## badbullgator (Dec 20, 2004)

I know a guy that can fix you up for cheap! He does good work


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## Tstreg (Dec 28, 2005)

My chocolate lab cracked a lower main canine tooth at 2.5 years. I was given the same choices. The inner nerve was exposed. I pulled it for $150. She has since gone on to earn a MHR in NAHRA and retrieves over 100 wild birds a year hunting. It had no ill effects. You will need to check the socket once in a while to make sure food doesn't get trapped in there and rot.  good luck


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## msdaisey (May 13, 2004)

My young dog was crunched by Crunch, an old cranky dog, when he was a puppy and did not even have his 'big boy' teeth when it happened.

He had a part of the upper bone (the part that the teeth come out of) put back into place with some temporary hardware and a bone graft, all of which worked well.

He did not get an adult canine (and a few minor teeth) on that side of his top jaw because of the damage, but he is oblivious to the fact. He has no problem holding a bird! We just let him heal thoroughly before he was allowed to retrieve anything (that was the hard part!!!!)


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## Juli H (Aug 27, 2007)

this reminds me of a black bear I shot several yrs ago...he was a 'beach' bear and apparently ate a lot of shellfish...he had several gaping holes in his molars which were filled with small shards of clamshells that had gotten lodged inside the tooth...can't imagine that felt too good!

If it was my dog, I would opt to have the tooth pulled...

Juli


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## Carol (Aug 17, 2004)

My old dog broke two canines at age 2 retrieving a pidgeon that landed next to a rock. The left one was really bad with about 2/3 of the tooth missing and exposed pulp and nerve. The right one was missing about 1/3 with exposed nerve. The dog was in pain and subject to infection. We put him on antibiotics for 10 days and then did root canals and caps on both teeth. Both repairs were still in good order when we lost him last year at 13 1/2. He earned his MH title and was an awesome pheasant dog. I'd vote for fixing the teeth.


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## badgerfan1 (Mar 7, 2008)

MikeMeek,

I just wanted to say thanks for your reply . . . I found it very helpful.

DJ


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