Loose tooth..

Holly and Amber have been playing a lot of very fierce tug of war games lately. I decided to check Holly's teeth earlier, and found that one of her very front teeth is loose. There doesn't seem to be any decay- her teeth are bright and white and firm, and there's no bad smell. Do I take her to the vet, or simply encourage her to chew hard biscuits like Bonio to get it out?

I'd see a vet. She's too old to be losing puppy teeth and too young to be losing teeth due to old age. I'd want to find out why it is loose and have that checked. Think of how odd it would be for you to suddenly have a tooth come loose -- and dog teeth are really strong. Just playing shouldn't have loosed it unless she had a major blow to her mouth. I'd want to have a vet make sure it's all OK and there isn't some underlying problem. It is painful to lose a tooth that isn;t actually supposed to come out so I would avoid chews!

Yikes. And I'm in the back of beyond at my parents' house. I'm really upset about this- her teeth have always been great, and the vet commented last year that they were fabulous. I haven't been doing anything differently. She ate her dinner happily earlier, and last night... shouldn't it hurt her, especially for chewing kibble, let alone playing tug-of-war? That's why I'm wondering if it's from playing or a bump or something, and also why I'm pretty sure it's just happened.

How do you detect tooth decay in dogs anyway? I know a bad smell is one symptom, but her teeth and gums look the same as always. Will she be ok until monday? I need to phone the vet then anyway for an appointment for Amber. Hopefully they'll let me make one appointment for both dogs.

One of my past dogs had 2 loose lower front teeth, and our vet said she was better off without them. Back then I was told the tiny toy dogs often get loose teeth, but I don't know what the main cause was. Over her lifetime, he removed any loose teeth he found during her annual dental visits. She lived to 14.5 years and had no problems eating kibble.

Thanks Cathy!

I would just make an appt with the vet for next week and meanwhile I wouldn't be giving her anything really tough to chew. I'd always be concerned about anything happening that wouldn't be the norm -- I've just never heard of young adults with teeth coming loose before. I'd definitely check it out with a vet. I'd imagine they may want to take it out.

I think our girl Penney lost her first tooth at about 4 or 5 years old. Our vet never considered it an emergency, but we always contacted the vet as soon as we noticed a loose tooth. So i would also say contact your vet first thing Monday morning.

BTW I said in another post that Penney has lost a few teeth. It seems her mother was the same. We contacted her breeder in Ireland a number of years ago and her mother had only half a dozen or so teeth left at age 14. So you might even contact Holly's breeder to see if this is something that "runs in the family" and is something you have to keep an eye on.

Thanks, Bruce that's a relief- Holly's four and a half, so she's not exactly a puppy. I will be phoning the vet tmw for an appointment asap... Am I right in thinking they would need to put her under? Do I ask for antibiotics beforehand?

You know, I'm not really sure. Kris handled it every time and she is at a show this weekend. I do know that they pulled at least a couple when they had her in for a cleaning and she was put out for the cleaning. Or maybe they did the cleaning because they had to put her out for the loose teeth. Sorry, just don't know for sure.

Well, an appointment has been made for tomorrow night. My groomer checked Holly's teeth today when she returned Amber and said that there was *definitely* no gum disease, and hopefully the vet will concur. The tooth really isn't bothering Holly at all, it doesn't even seem to be hurting! Odd.

You might want to have her teeth cleaned, ears cleaned, etc. if they're going to use a general anesthetic. I usually get as many things done as possible when one of mine is going under.

Wasn't needed. I saw the vet, he gave both dogs an all clear for health and said to let the tooth come out by itself since forcing it out when the teeth are in good condition and it's not bothering her might cause problems - something to do with the root. He did say that there was recessed gum at that tooth, and that it may be a genetic issue... does that mean I should contact the breeders?

thanks to Karlin, Bruce and Cathy for their advice and reassurance!