# retained teeth



## JD808 (May 23, 2016)

Hi again everyone, I have yet another..predicament. 

So all of Daisy's baby teeth have fallen out and have been replaced by her adult teeth except her top 2 canines. Her adult canines are already partially out, I think I can make her baby teeth wiggle a little-- but it is really slight. (if I did it right, a pic is attached so you can see) 

I can't have them removed when she is fixed because she was adopted and therefore, was fixed long ago. She'll be 7 months old next week. Unfortunately she's not a big chewer, as in.. her favorite 6 inch bully stick can last weeks. Is there a way to make chews more appealing? I would really like her teeth to come out naturally..

Anyway, so this is my predicament. Either drop about $600 to have it removed (that means xrays, anesthesia, etc.) or wait (which the vet said could lead to permanent damage to her adult teeth). Unfortunately I'm not rich enough to easily drop $600 without a second thought, but I don't want anything serious to happen to Daisy just because I didn't want to spend $$$ to remove her 2 canines. 

So here I am asking for your experience and opinions on what you would do if you were in my position.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Same thing happened with Swizzle. He had two that did not wiggle. Vet told me to manually try to wiggle teeth myself a few times a day and if they did not come out in a couple of weeks then she would pull them. They did come out. I would recommend giving your dog a raw chicken neck every couple of days. Even if she does not like chews chances are high she will enjoy raw bones. If that does not work have the teeth pull as waiting too long can cause significant dental issues. Good Luck!


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## Mysticrealm (Jan 31, 2016)

My pom had all 4 puppy canines, as well as 3 other baby teeth at the age of 9 months. Finally got them pulled. The vet didn't feel there should be any issue with his teeth. My poo breeder who also does poms (though she was not the breeder of my pom) said to take a dime to the baby canines to use that as leverage to really try to get them wiggling, and/or give them FROZEN chicken wings (only while supervised!) so that they really try to yank pieces off.
Be VERY careful with the chicken necks. My pom has choked really badly on them twice. He no longer gets them.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Mysticrealm said:


> Be VERY careful with the chicken necks. My pom has choked really badly on them twice. He no longer gets them.


Good point. I would not give a chicken neck to a gulper or a larger dog. In that case maybe a chicken leg or back bone.


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## Mysticrealm (Jan 31, 2016)

My pom is not a gulper, or a larger dog!


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## marialydia (Nov 23, 2013)

Sorry to say that I also recommend getting them out -- first by trying to loosen them yourself, and if that does not provide results, extraction. 

Jupiter's baby teeth did not all fall out spontaneously. I was living in Africa at the time and it took me a bit of time to get him to travel to a good vet. He's had permanent malocclusion as a result, with a lower canine not on the outside, but poking into his palate. However, when during a dental cleaning a few years ago (when he was 12 years old), some incisors were removed and the canine has now moved into a more normal position.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Those always seem to be the last ones out for the toys! Timi's came out playing tug when she was ten months old. And just today a friend said that her 10 1/2 month old just lost her last one.
So if I were you, I would brush the teeth daily so that no food stays stuck between them, and play it out until she is about 11 months old before going the Vet route. You don't want to keep them forever, but around ten months seems to be the age around which the roots get weak enough for them to get pulled out at home!


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## ranniew (Sep 17, 2015)

I think at 7 months you can still wait a bit longer. Mia also had retained canines which did not fall out until she was 9 months old. She preferred to chew on one side more than the other, so the side with less chewing had the retained baby teeth. We got a beef knee cap which she loved. After chewing on it for just a couple of days, the baby teeth came out!


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Yeah, I'm with the 'wait and give her some raw chicken legs or raw baby back ribs to gnaw on! Daisy still has time..... and DO wiggle them every chance you get to help them along!


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## JD808 (May 23, 2016)

Perfect! Thank you all for your responses! I really appreciate it! I try to brush her teeth everyday, apparently I'm not doing it properly yet cuz I see some tartar buildup! >.< gotta work on that.. fingers crossed-- hopefully between her crazy playing and your ideas, her teeth will come out soon! :biggrin1:


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## West U (Jul 30, 2014)

They probably need to come out, but I would negotiate the fee, that sounds really high for pulling a couple of retained puppy teeth.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Maybe they have fallen out now, do you have an update?


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## BombLOLita (Jul 19, 2016)

Great question - grateful for feedback.
Inga's got all sorts of double teeth now - she looks like an Ork! :laugh2:









We went to the vet yesterday and she said that if they didn't come out they would have to remove them.
Inga is just 6 months old so we will wait and see how it goes before we touch them.


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## JD808 (May 23, 2016)

Me and my terrible memory! Sorry for my late response, I forgot my password then had a couple pathetic technology fails.. 

Anyway! So update: I brush her teeth everyday, also I recently bought a bag of trachea pieces (because I'm not too comfortable giving things like chicken body parts yet.. like in my head you just get a chicken out of the bag, chop off the leg and give it to her? you're not worried about bacterial toxins and such?-- still need to look into that though), I also wiggle her teeth a couple times a day-- so yes, unfortunately both of her retained teeth are still there, hopefully it's not just me, but they seem a bit more wiggly! 

and good luck BombLOLita! (as cool as it is to rock the ork look~) hopefully Inga's teeth fall out naturally!


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

If you are worried about salmonella don't. It is more likely with commercial dog food than raw. I get my chicken necks at the supermarket - Asian markets rock - or at a high quality pet store.


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## Ansible90 (Jun 18, 2016)

I just went through this with my 6-month old mini poo. Both upper canines needed to be removed. A week before the surgery, I thought one had fallen out on it's own. But the vet found it had broken off. So she was able to remove one tooth intact but for the broken one she basically had to dig out pieces of root. That increased the cost because of the extra time and effort involved.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Ansible90 said:


> I just went through this with my 6-month old mini poo. Both upper canines needed to be removed. A week before the surgery, I thought one had fallen out on it's own. But the vet found it had broken off. So she was able to remove one tooth intact but for the broken one she basically had to dig out pieces of root. That increased the cost because of the extra time and effort involved.



Yes, my Vet also told me that the roots on the upper canines are very long, almost up to the sinus, so when they get yanked out you want to make sure that the root is completely gone, so they did dental X-rays when she was spayed. They were gone.


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## JD808 (May 23, 2016)

Thanks! That's great to hear about the salmonella!

:afraid: extra long roots! and they can break off! :afraid: oh my gosh, just reading that makes me want to jump the phone and call the vet!


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

JD808 said:


> Thanks! That's great to hear about the salmonella!
> 
> 
> 
> :afraid: extra long roots! and they can break off! :afraid: oh my gosh, just reading that makes me want to jump the phone and call the vet!



Don't be too worried - I am not 100% sure, but I sort of feel like my Vet was being an alarmist - after all, aren't the roots of puppy teeth designed to die off and get reabsorbed by the body? Timi's upper canines did not come out with her puppy teeth, they were torn out months later during vigorous tugging. She did have dental X-rays months after that, and it was fine, the roots were gone! I guess there could always be an anomaly where that didn't happen, but my feeling is that it would not be an issue for the vast majority. If it was, I think that we would hear about at least sometimes!


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## JD808 (May 23, 2016)

Oooh! Right!? Ok awesome, whew, I'm so glad I woke up this morning to your response! :cheers2: Thank you! Fingers crossed for a normal, smooth... natural falling out of her teeth!


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## JD808 (May 23, 2016)

Hi everyone! Just wanted to post a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge thank you for all your advice! I decided to wait, and if Daisy's teeth still hadn't fallen out by her next appointment (in 2 weeks) then I would have them removed. But the last one just fell out today! Literally like 3 minutes ago! 

Thank you guys so much, I truly appreciate you all being here and sharing your advice and stories!! Mahalo!


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Well while I am glad the teeth came out on their own, three months sounds like a very long time to have waited for this to have happened. If my vet told me that retained teeth were possibly going to result in long term oral/dental issues I would have waited maybe 2 weeks while trying to get them to drop, not months. Being financially prepared for contingencies is part of responsible dog ownership. If you don't have a reserve fund for such events (which is what I have done) then I think you should look in to getting insurance.


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## JD808 (May 23, 2016)

Ah...oops. I know some mentioned waiting a few weeks, others said they naturally tend to fall out around 10 months. And I believe in letting nature take its course, as long as it is not detrimental, so if they weren't out by her 10 month wellness appointment then I'd have them removed. 

They weren't affecting her bite or in the way of her adult teeth and everything is still nicely aligned, that's another reason I figured I'd try let them fall out on their own after hearing what everyone said. 

So... if they weren't harming her/the rest of her teeth, they'd possibly fall out by 10 months, then there's no rush to put her through surgery and drop $600. At least that was my reasoning, which sounded good to me. But, yes, perhaps my way of thought was wrong. :dazed:


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I've never had the issue of retained teeth, so I am not speaking from experience, but out of interest in the well being of dogs. As I opened with I am glad that all is good, so if waiting until a dog is 10 months old to make a decision about this is normal then I have gained a new bit of knowledge.

I do still maintain that if worrying about spending money for needed procedures is that big of a problem then it is good to have insurance. I self insure and am grateful to be able to afford to do so, but being prepared for unexpected issues is part of the big picture of owning a dog. I say this for the benefit of anyone who reads and am not trying to be directly critical of the OP.


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## Kassie (Apr 7, 2016)

JD808 said:


> Ah...oops. I know some mentioned waiting a few weeks, others said they naturally tend to fall out around 10 months. And I believe in letting nature take its course, as long as it is not detrimental, so if they weren't out by her 10 month wellness appointment then I'd have them removed.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




My soon to be 8 month old Fenton has 1 retained upper canine. The vet and I are watching it and I am wriggling the stubborn baby tooth daily. My breeder said that it is common for her poodles to retain baby teeth until about 10 months. She said she would recommend waiting a bit more. 

I am a single mother and I do not have the funds to throw around. I research and check in with professionals for guidance. 

If we all waited until we could "afford" the unexpected, many would lead a very sad existence, including not having human children. Nobody can predict what will be in the future, what animals will become ill, what children will become ill or cause financial hardship. Not everyone is blessed to have abundance of money. I believe we live a life that fulfils us and we do the best that we can. I also know that nobody can see the future and nobody can look from outside the window to know the truth of someone else's life or why they make the decisions they do. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## JD808 (May 23, 2016)

Very true Kassie! And I'm sorry Lily, I wasn't trying to be critical either or offend your offered view. I truly, truly appreciate your wealth of knowledge and everyone else here! 

I was simply explaining my thought process of why I thought waiting these couple months was the right thing in Daisy's situation. So it wasn't an issue of not being able to afford it, it was how necessary is it to put her through the risk of surgery and paying a substantial amount for something that could naturally fall out within a couple months and not affect her wellbeing. I didn't know teeth naturally tend to fall out around 10 months either until I asked people here, so I learned something as well. Please be assured, if something was threatening her health, I would not hesitate to drop that amount or twice over. I sincerely try to be as responsible a pet owner as possible! 

No hard feelings, please continue to kindly guide me in the future!


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