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Post by Paula on May 8, 2012 1:56:28 GMT
Hey guys. When brushing Pips teeth tonight I noticed two of his top front upper teeth are a little loose. He was acting a little fussy tonight with me brushing them so I was looking at them and touching the area and I noticed it. I'm pretty freaked out by it.  There's no tartar on the teeth and everything looks fine, but two of those little upper middle teeth are slightly loose and wiggly. His gums do seem maybe slightly red in that area. I'm going to call the vet tomorrow. Any ideas in the meantime? |
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Post by Paula on May 8, 2012 2:17:51 GMT
Something else I noticed is the space between his two front teeth has slightly widened. I can't believe he could possibly have gum disease, his teeth are in the best shape they have ever been, but what else could be causing them to be slightly loose? He did chew on a bully stick tonight, he doesn't act in pain, but he did seem sensitive to me brushing the area the past few days. At his last visit (about 6 months ago) the vet said everything looked good with his teeth. I'm really worried he's going to have to have those two little front teeth pulled now. |
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Post by Kristi on May 8, 2012 3:15:44 GMT
Unfortunately, it's totally normal. At 3, Oakley has a loose upper middle incisor. At 9 months, Bryco lost a bottom middle incisor. The root system just is not great on most small dog's incisor teeth. You can take care of them until they are blue in the face but a lot of chihuahuas and other small dogs will lose one or more incisors by the time they are 5 and very few have any left by the time they are 10 or so. Their other teeth usually stay in but it just is somewhat common fo them to lose those. IF they bother them, you can take them in to have the loose teeth removed, but really there is no problem with leaving them in as long as they will stay if their is no discoloration of the tooth itself.
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Post by Sarah on May 8, 2012 8:39:19 GMT
The doggy dentist spoke to Lucy and I about wobbly teeth and there are two causes either gum disease (which is possible as toothpaste doesn't kill off the bacteria) or fibrous tissue in the gums not being strong enough. Even wobbly teeth can stay put for a while she said you need to use a product that kills bacteria and suggested anything with chlorohexadine 0.12% in it she gave us pet dent it's made in south Africa (she was south African) but said any equivalent will do and you just rub it on the gums and it will stop gum disease
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Post by Lucy on May 8, 2012 8:42:12 GMT
When we went to the dental specialist, I mentioned that Kiki's bottom 5 incisors are all wobbly and she said it was normal for the breed She did say though, that as long as the gums are kept healthy, you should be able to hang on to the teeth. I would take Pip to the vet just to rule out gum disease, but I'd say just keep brushing gently (or do the cotton bud trick) and keep the plaque off of the teeth. |
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Post by Paula on May 8, 2012 13:31:08 GMT
Thanks so much for the replies everyone. I feel a little better. I was really freaking out last night when I noticed it. I find it very hard to believe he has gum disease as I brush his teeth nightly, use peroxide etc. He gets bullies and chews regularly too. He also had a dental 2 years ago and 6 months ago my vet said his gums and teeth were healthy, Still, I suppose anything is possible. Those little middle teeth all look in good shape, they're white and clean, no discoloration at all and he lets me touch them with no problem. He doesn't act in pain at all when I touch them. It's his two front teeth that are wobbly, the ones next to his two front teeth are maybe a tad wobbly as well. All the rest of his teeth are solid. They're not wobbly to the point of them being able to come right out, but they do wobble. Sigh. I'm going to make a vet appointment. I'll let you all know what they say, of course. Thanks again for the replies.  xx |
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Post by Paula on May 8, 2012 13:46:21 GMT
The doggy dentist spoke to Lucy and I about wobbly teeth and there are two causes either gum disease (which is possible as toothpaste doesn't kill off the bacteria) or fibrous tissue in the gums not being strong enough. Even wobbly teeth can stay put for a while she said you need to use a product that kills bacteria and suggested anything with chlorohexadine 0.12% in it she gave us pet dent it's made in south Africa (she was south African) but said any equivalent will do and you just rub it on the gums and it will stop gum disease I have chews with chlorohexadine for the pups, but I don't use them a lot because because I was unsure of it. Virbac also make a rinse for dogs with it as well. You can get it on Amazon. Has anyone on here researched chlorohexadine? Someone on the other board once said something about it being linked to cancer so that scared me off. This is what they said: Oral Rinse from CET uses chlorhexidine which is compounded solution containing alcohol and sodium saccharin (known to cause cancer in animals) Watter Additive has Xylitol which is "sugar alcohol" (vs ethyl alcohol) is know to be dangerous for dogs (study done by Journal of Veterinarian Pharmacology) |
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Post by Sarah on May 8, 2012 14:54:39 GMT
Well she said that water additives do nothing :s chlorohexadine is in hibiscrub which I use to mop my floors and on the girls bits when they are in season it's what surgeons use to scrub in. I'll have a look. Maybe because with a chew they digest it altho I would assume that it goes into the blood stream!! I'm going to do some research
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There's no tartar on the teeth and everything looks fine, but two of those little upper middle teeth are slightly loose and wiggly. His gums do seem maybe slightly red in that area. I'm going to call the vet tomorrow. Any ideas in the meantime?
xx