over bite

[renee]

Hello to all.

I took our new pups to the vet on Friday, and am a little confused as to what the vet had to say.

Lady's (our 10week b/t female) bottom jaw is not in line with her top. Her bottom cannine teeth, which should be in front of her top, are actually behind them. Her front teeth when fully developed will/could impact the roof of her mouth.

The vet wants to pull all her bottom front teeth include her bottom cannies!! OUCH! She said she would wait until her next visit (in August) to see if the jaw grows out anymore, but then we need to get this done.

Anyone heard or experienced this sort of thing? I am thinking of a second opinion.

Any comments are greatly appreciated.

Renee

[Penny's Aunt]

In my humble opinion, I would hold off until it's really necessary. This is something you can see for yourself, & keep an eye on.

Some dogs DO have this problem, & if the teeth hit the roof of the mouth, you will have to do something. I wouldn't remove any more teeth than are necessary.

Got any dog dentists around there for advice?

But if the teeth have to go, I wouldn't worry too much. Most dachsies only use their teeth for smiling & ripping stuff up. They gobble their food so fast they must be swallowing it whole!

[WOTANSMUTTI]

You forget, Penny's Aunt, that dachsies look great sporting gold teeth! http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/wink.gif

<font color="#00FFFF" font size="1">[This message has been edited by WOTANSMUTTI (edited July 31, 2000).]</font>

[Wienergal]

Renee, Penny's Aunt is right--you would be able to see the teeth hitting the roof of the mouth if that does, in fact, happen. When big bucks and big procedures are involved, I think a second opinion couldn't hurt.

But if the teeth have to come out, don't worry about it. Peaches has all her canines, but she had to have all her lower front bottom teeth removed--years of biting at her uncontrolled allergic skin resulted in the deposit of lots of hair between those teeth and her gums, and the teeth had loosened to the point that they had to be extracted. Behind her back, we refer to her as our little hillbilly dog, but don't tell her! (She wore a nice set of custom dentures during the show, and nobody noticed--not even Letterman!!! http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/lol.gif )

[renee]

Thanks guys!! http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/ksmile.gif

I think we will just watch it until Lady's next vet visit and see what the Dr. has to say. If she concludes that this is something that we "have" to do, then I do have another vet that I can/will take her by to visit.

I have noticed that both Lady and Hannah gobble their food in one big swallow, so the teeth may not be touching her food.
http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/facelick.gif

Thanks again for the words of advise!

Renee, LAdy & Hannah

[wireweiners]

How far overshot is she? Her upper front teeth should be slightly over her lower front teeth. Can you get a finger in the gap between the uppers and lowers? The bottom jaw actually grows slower than the upper so I like my pups to be slightly undershot at that age. Otherwise as they mature, their bites may go level or overshot. But if there is much more than a quarter inch gap between uppers and lowers, she will always be slightly undershot. Your vet may be describing what is called a wry mouth. That is where the jaw is crooked causing the upper and lower teeth not to fit together properly. This can cause the teeth to wear abnormally. Let her mature some before you worry about this.

[weenie]

Not to get off track, but.....

Pam, when you mentioned Peaches and her dentures I got this picture in my mind http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/lol.gif
of her being the new spokes-doggie for Efferdent and Polygrip http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/lol.gif

sorry http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/lol.gif

Kris

[renee]

Thanks wireweiners!! Everyone would have laughed as I sat on the floor with Lady in my lap measuring the gap of her jaw! Hannah I am sure thinks I have lost my mind!!
http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/nuts.gif

Her bottom jaw is about 1/4-1/2 inch back from her top. Her bottom incisor teeth are hitting right behind the top tough...Her bites seems to be just fine. Damn, those baby teeth are sharp!!

I definetly have decided to wait until she matures to decide what to do.

Thanks again for all the help.

As I read the responses, I too http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/lol.gif thinking of Polygrip for dogs!!

Renee

[Dekka123]

Hi I am a new member and I was very interested in your problem with overshot teeth. I have exactly the same problem with my twelve week old puupy (Ollie). The vet told me exactly the same except he did not tell me to have the teeth extracted yet. He said I should wait a bit and see how it goes and he said capping may be a solution in the future.

[TessieMom]

I think your vet will be the best person to guide you in this case. A second opinion could not hurt before you extract many of the teeth! One of my best friends has a 6 year old bichon with this problem and she functions perfectly well... does not slow the eating or treats in the slightest! I noticed that the post you replied to was about 5 years old and most of the folks and dogs involved are no longer around.

[alisoninmd]

Right after we adopted Rex from the shelter, we took him for a dental because his teeth were in bad shape. The vet told us he has an overbite. He's fine though- it doesn't affect him. He's able to eat and chew normally. They did not pull any teeth because of it. I would definitely get a second opinion before agreeing to having teeth pulled.

[minicooper]

My Mini has an over bite as well. When she was a pup the vet said she MAY require surgery to correct iit if necessary (I would assume he meant extracting some teeth) but she is now nearly 8 and has never had a problem with it.

As a side note, the shorter lower jaw allows the tip of her tongue to show when her mouth is shut. It looks so cute :) it's as though her tongue is too long to fit in her mouth properly :D

I would definitely wait and see if there is a problem before having teeth extracted.

[lotsadox]

I would also wait. Bogart has an overbite. My vet noticed it when I took him in as a puppy, but said she didn't want to do anything until he matured. He's 13 now and we never had anything done and he has done fine. Still has more of any over bite than the others, but has no problems with it.

[Schatz's Mom]

My first dachsie Scooter had a severe overbite. This was back in the 70's and all my vet said was that she could not be shown or bred. I wasn't interested in either so we left her mouth as it was. She lived to the ripe old age of 18 without ever having to have a single tooth extracted. She definitely didn't have problems eating either. I would wait to do anything that severe until you see that there is a problem.