# Teeth structure



## Hektor

My 3 months old puppy has her maxilla a little in front of (or over) the mandible, but no space between them (dont know how to describe it!!!).

Is this normal or poodles have to have their teeth structure like other dogs ( for example labs?) for a show?
Will this change when teeth will change in adults?

My vet told my (she is showing collies) that this is a normal structure for colies because they have long mouth...

Any opinions?


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## cliffdweller

Could you send a photo ?


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## flyingduster

Do you mean a scissor bite? The upper teeth closely closing over the lower ones, meshing into a 'scissor' bite? 
Bites

If so, then yes, this is the correct bite for a poodle.


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## cliffdweller

flyingduster said:


> Do you mean a scissor bite? The upper teeth closely closing over the lower ones, meshing into a 'scissor' bite?
> Bites


Thank You, that's a very nice reference.


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## Hektor

flyingduster said:


> Do you mean a scissor bite? The upper teeth closely closing over the lower ones, meshing into a 'scissor' bite?
> Bites
> 
> If so, then yes, this is the correct bite for a poodle.


Very nice pictures!!! Well, yes its very similar to the scissor bite, only that the left canine teeth is inside the mouth and not from the outside. But this is something that may change...I think.


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## Hektor

I found this link too.

Canine Teeth


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## cliffdweller

Hektor, it sounds as though you might be describing a condition called "base narrow". Take a look here for some information (see if it fits) : Pet Orthodontics - Animal Dentistry - VDC

(lots of Google hits on "canine 'base narrow'")

I suppose you could also be seeing wry mouth, but less certain about this possibility.


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## Hektor

Thanks for the reply.
The canine teeth that has the problem is only one from the 4, so is there a posibility that the new teeth will grow in the right position? 
Maybe because she was eating raw and bones, the teeth didn't grow at the right position?


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## cliffdweller

Hektor said:


> Thanks for the reply.
> The canine teeth that has the problem is only one from the 4, so is there a posibility that the new teeth will grow in the right position?
> Maybe because she was eating raw and bones, the teeth didn't grow at the right position?


I am still uncertain about the actual condition you are describing. It would help if you posted a photo. Someone here could, perhaps, offer you some more/better help.

I would, however, take notice of the following statement : 

"... it is important to note that if a pets occlusion is abnormal with its primary teeth, it is very likely that the condition will still be present when the permanent teeth erupt. Therefore, it is during a pet's first six months that bite evaluations are essential to allow an early diagnosis and intervention." [source cited above]


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## rubymom

Sure sounds like canine base narrow! 
Ruby was diagnosed at 13 weeks with this condition. The baby tooth was pulled early to avoid further injury to the roof of her mouth. As the permanent tooth came in, we did the rubber ball therapy 8-10 x's daily. However, this did not guide the permanent tooth into position as her vet hoped it would, so braces came next! She wore the braces for almost 3 months and, thankfully, we did not have to use an incline plane! She is now 15 months old and her bite is fine! The specialist told us that early treatment was key in spending less time in braces as the correction was applied as the tooth fully erupted. Waiting until AFTER the tooth erupts takes more time for the proper alignment to occur. Believe me, a puppy in braces is not easy! So I sure was glad it was only 3 months for us! good luck!


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## flyingduster

You can also manually press on young teeth to guide them where you want. With the baby teeth I'd not worry too much, but as the offending adult tooth comes in I'd be putting firm, but gentle, pressure on the inside of the tooth to push it outwards, as many times a day as you can. Just a few seconds or so of pressing against the tooth as often as you can might be all it needs to guide it out to it's proper position as it grows.


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## Hektor

Here are some pictures. It seems that is a narrow base....
Is this a big problem? Can this be solved? It was suposed that I took a show puppy...


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## cliffdweller

Hektor said:


> Here are some pictures. It seems that is a narrow base....
> Is this a big problem? Can this be solved? It was suposed that I took a show puppy...


I think yo need to see a dog Orthodontist as soon as possible. How you handle it with your breeder is up to you; in my opinion, it is _very unlikely_ that what you fed your puppy has much to do with this condition.


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## rubymom

Can you tell if the lower canine has punctured the top gum or the roof of the mouth yet? That is a big infection risk. Here is what Ruby's looked like before braces.


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## Hektor

there is a very small hole and the vet told me that the teeth will not grow any more. We will wait until the adult teeth come, to see the way they will grow, but my problem is that there is no orthodontist here and I really need someone to tell me how serius the situation is!!


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## outwest

My puppy is just 8 weeks older than yours, so I took pictures to show where the canines come in when they start teething. My vet said she has a good bite. I asked about her top front teeth being spaced a little. He said that when the adult canines come in that it pushes them together more and they should initially have a little space in between them to allow room for pushing together. 

The upper front teeth come in before the canines, so the last upper tooth is in to guide the lower canine into the space. You can see from my picture how the lower canine is about a quarter of the way in and the upper front tooth is going to push and guide it. 

The adult canine come in front of the baby ones, not underneath like the molars and front teeth. My puppies bottom canines are about a quarter of the way in. The baby teeth just fell out a couple days ago. The top baby canines are loose now. Canines are big teeth and shove everything around. 

You can't tell anything from the baby teeth, at least that is what I have been told. You don't know where those bottom canine are going to come in. I don't think you have a major problem. Wait and see. 


[boy! It was hard to get her to hold still for these pics!]


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## outwest

PS Your puppies middle front top teeth are lined up perfectly with it's middle bottom front teeth, so you do not have a wry mouth.


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## Hektor

glad to hear that we will have a posibility with the adult teeth coming in the right position. I have to wait until she decomes 6 months old then....

Also very glad to have the chance to have so many information through this forum!!!


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