Tooth Knocked Out

[DTrain]

My best dog was kicked by a cow. It knocked out his lower right canine. We Took him to the Vet and he is fine, he does not seem to have pain from the tooth which surprises me. He is eating and has no hesitation to get back to work. The Vet was not a dental expert and he told me that dogs can go for years with brocken teeth and I have seen this in other dogs. My question is, has anyone had experience with broken teeth, what should I watch for, what might I expect longer term. Thanks

[2 Devils]

My acd just had some dental surgery again.

 

9 yrs ago she broke a tooth into the gum and it had to be removed. She was a crate door chewer and it damaged many teeth. She also has a cracked K9 that they wanted to remove years ago but it never bothered her so they said leave it until it does. Go forward 9 yrs and she had a loose tooth - only connected from the outside gum and we noticed it by accident. When you looked at her mouth the tooth looked fine unless you hit it and it would flip up. She finally knocked it out fully. We took her to the vets and the roots were still connected obviously so they put her on antibiotics until we could schedule surgery. After more thorough review she also had another pre-molar fractured. This goes with a front tooth that died about 2 years ago and they said would fall out within a month or would abcess and we would smell the infection. Well we never saw problems.

 

Anyways, she had dental surgery to remove the roots on the one tooth, remove the other pre-molar and the front tooth. The front tooth was actually infected according to xrays which is why they removed it. My acd never stopped eating, chewing, etc... but obviously there some problems.

 

If the tooth that was knocked out still has roots in the gum, you should probably see about having the roots removed. They could cause an infection that if left untreated can get into the bone and cause more serious problems. Luckily, our acd did not get to that point. If the vet is not concerned I would see another vet just to be sure there is no need for concern.

[Alaska]

Dave,

 

The search function is very useful for questions like this. It's in the upper right corner of the page, just to the left of "Help".

 

Here is an old thread with LOTS of peoples experiences and advice. The search function will turn up others as well.

 

Good luck.

[gail]

It is an important distinction whether the tooth was broken or knocked out. I think either is prone to infection, but broken teeth can be treated and saved with a root canal, if appropriate. Most vets do not do this surgery and you would have to see a dentist.

 

The lower canines are also integral to the dog's jaw so problems with lower canines can make the dog more susceptible to a broken jaw. This is one reason that it is rarely recommended to pull a lower canine.

 

I have had a root canal done on a young dog with a damaged canine & I currently have a dog with a missing lower canine. I have not really done anything with the current dog other than monitor for infection.

 

Things to watch for include discoloration (if the tooth is broken & still visible), swelling, pain, reluctance to eat - typical signs of infection.

 

Good luck, Gail

[DTrain]

It is an important distinction whether the tooth was broken or knocked out. I think either is prone to infection, but broken teeth can be treated and saved with a root canal, if appropriate. Most vets do not do this surgery and you would have to see a dentist.

 

The lower canines are also integral to the dog's jaw so problems with lower canines can make the dog more susceptible to a broken jaw. This is one reason that it is rarely recommended to pull a lower canine.

 

I have had a root canal done on a young dog with a damaged canine & I currently have a dog with a missing lower canine. I have not really done anything with the current dog other than monitor for infection.

 

Things to watch for include discoloration (if the tooth is broken & still visible), swelling, pain, reluctance to eat - typical signs of infection.

 

Good luck, Gail

 

Thanks Gail, the tooth is broken, it was not knocked out completely. There is plenty of tooth left for a root canal. I am watching him carefully. He does not appear to have a problem. In the meantime I am looking for a dentist who would do a root canal. There is not Vet in my area who can do this. I have been told to not have the tooth pulled so a root canal appears to be my only option.