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Please help! Tooth decay in very young dog


maggiesmommy
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My 11-month-old BC has one tooth that looks pretty severely decayed. She's very young and she eats a grain-free dry diet and LOTS of bones and antlers, and she gets her teeth brushed once a week. Her other teeth don't look too great, either.

 

Her vet said it's not a big deal but I know how horrible this can get over time and I hate the idea that she already has tooth decay at such a young age.

I adopted her when she was 5 months old and she was a survivor of a horrendous case of neglect. Is it possible that malnutrition early in life caused her teeth to develop very weak enamel? What can I do to help prevent/treat tooth decay at this point? I'm worried that if things continue as they're going, she's in for a very hard life. :(

Her gums look great, fwiw...

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Back in the early Pleistocene, we had a BC pup who contracted canine distemper at ~ 2 months of age (long story; both he and the pup he contracted it from had supposedly been vaccinated...). He was very, very sick, and almost died. (The pup he contracted it from had to be euthanized when she became paralyzed in her hind end. If anyone is toying with the notion of avoiding vaccination for distemper [NOT the case with these pups!], please think again - it's a horrible disease). Anyway, the surviving pup's teeth were horrible. We always attributed it to how sick he was with distemper at a time when his adult teeth were still forming.

 

I'd take it up with your vet. Bad teeth can cause lots of health problems - think bacteria in your dog's bloodstream and heart... It's possible it's only surficial, but if any teeth are necrotic, they need to be seen to ASAP.

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There is some tooth stuff that you can put right in the drinking water. I read one report from a vet that said it doesn't work but it might be worth looking into.

 

I wonder if you could get a flouride treatment for your dog. It sure helped stop decay in my teeth when I was young. Don't know if you can do that with dogs.

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