# Lower Canine teeth issue



## galofpink (Mar 14, 2017)

I am assuming that you are referring to base narrow canines? And that you've read this article: http://www.dentalvets.co.uk/files/Docs/Common Case Types/LingDisp/Verhaert99JVDRemOrthDevice.pdf

How bad is it? Does Coquette have divets in the mouth roof?

Start as soon as possible; play as much fetch as you can. Try to teach her to carry the ball (see below). Get in the groove of making sure she has at least 45 min of playing with the ball each day.

Shae had base narrow canines as a puppy, divets maybe about 1/4 of an inch inside her roof of her mouth. I haven't heard of the thumb therapy, but our vet suggested ball therapy. They also discussed more invasive proceedures: putting epoxy on the tip of the adult teeth to push the teeth outward (requires an anesthetic to remove the epoxy when the teeth are in); installing a wire like brace to push the teeth outward; removing part of the upper gum to have a track for the teeth. I'm not saying you will have to do any of these, but I hope your vet has at least touched on them so you are aware of the options.

It's important not to use tennis balls as these are abrasive. Road hockey balls are usually suggested. Shae wouldn't have anything to do with them. We used lacrosse balls. Key is to have big enough ball to put outward pressure on the teeth but not too big. They (lacrosse balls) are quite a bit heavier than most balls and personally I think that helped with putting outward pressure on the teeth. They also bounce really well, so Shae could drop it out of her mouth and it would bounce away and she could chase it again, all without my involvement. 

Shae was very energetic as a puppy and required a lot of exercise (yes we mentally trained, but she still never sat still while we were home). She always played fetch, but we began making more deliberate intentions to play fetch around 12 weeks old, long before her adult teeth came in. A typical day would probably involve about 1-2 hours of fetch; pretty easy task when you are sitting watching tv or such. 

Eventually Shae started just carrying her ball around all the time without needing to play fetch. Instead of throwing it all the time, you can try to put the ball in your pups mouth as a reminder to carry it around. Drop it out, put it back in kind of thing. 

It took quite a while for Shae's adult teeth to correctly align themselves. I was concerned about it for quite some time. You could see the ball moving the teeth, but I was always thinking, what if this non-invasive idea doesn't do enough? What if we have to do surgery? Would I have been better to put epoxy caps on the teeth to guide them?

Regardless, it worked out for us. Shae's teeth are good. The one canine (inside edge) very slightly rubs against the outside of the gum, but otherwise everything is as it should be. 

I really hope this ball therapy works for Coquette!


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## Meekospeeps (Nov 12, 2017)

As a puppy, Meeko had his lower canines removed, as they were creating holes in the roof of his mouth. Then the adults came in the same way. As soon as we saw them pointing the wrong angle we started ball therapy, which continued for 3 months if I remember correctly. We ended up still having to remove one of his canines at 10 months old, as it was causing problems with eating, and it was an infection risk.


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## S_Toast (Jan 30, 2018)

I guess for now we will just keep an eye on them to be sure they don't cause infection. She eats and plays fine but if she gets hit in the lower jaw while playing with the other dogs she'll holler. I assume it's because those sharp little teeth jab her pallet. 

She's 12 weeks now so I figure in another month or so they'll fall out?? We'll see how the adult teeth look coming in.

I'm in contact with the breeder quite a bit and let her know of the situation. She said to keep her posted and if she needs expensive treatment she'll work with me on it.


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