overbite in a 5 month old puppy

[Ziltoid]

Hello,

I'm after suggestions/experience about overbite problems in a 5 month old pup who is teething. Have booked in to see a veterinary dental specialist on Friday so am trying to get ideas on what I should be asking about - I didn't even know these problems existed until yesterday.


I was at the vets for something else and asked about a baby canine which has not come out yet... (I assume it will soon as the others have and it is a bit loose) however when I showed the vet his mouth he got really concerned about his overbite. His bottom canines are basically in line with his top ones so are starting to press into the top gum on the front inside of the top canines. It doesn't seem to be causing any pain yet and there is no blood so it hasn't done more than create a little dent at this stage... but the teeth are far from fully grown so I guess this could get worse very quickly.


The vet seems to think that my only options are removing the bottom canines all together, or cutting them down and capping them. He didn't think that capping is very cost effective because the caps can be broken by biting on things and need re-capping numerous times throughout the dogs life. He did mention some kind of braces but didn't think that would help my dog because of how far off his bite is.


To be honest I'm a bit freaked out by this and really don't want to get his teeth removed all together, or even cut down... but will do it if that is the only option available. The cost mentioned for the cutting and capping was $1100-1200 but I don't know if he was talking about 1 tooth or 2. Guess I'll find out more about costs on Friday... the specialist visit is $165 on it's own. This is not going to be a cheap exercise.


I have spoken to the breeder and they own 4 generations of dogs on the dams side and have never had any other teeth issues in any of their dogs, or any of their other litters (this one included). My other dog is down that line and has perfect teeth so I believe that to be true. They are not aware of any dental problems coming from the sires side either... all dogs in my pups 5 generation lineage have been shown so I don't know where this came from. In my brief research it seems to be a genetic fault so obvioulsy one side has it... but I don't know a lot about genetics... maybe it's like a 1 in 1000 type thing? either way I guess that doesn't really matter, I have no intention of returning him and am only wanting to make sure he gets the highest quality of life that I can give him. He won't be shown or bred so I am not concerned in that regard.


Does anyone know anything about overbites? What should I be asking the specialist?


I have read other threads and articles where some dogs have come good on their own with age so I don't plan on getting any surgery done until it starts causing him problems or pain.

I don't know how to alter the picture size so rather than post something that comes out huge, I'll just add links. I apologise for the poor quality of the shots, it's quite difficult to hold a 5 month old down with lips pulled back and take photos at the same time.

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y486/ziltoid1/1_zps102de5f8.jpg
http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y486/ziltoid1/2_zpsc9806874.jpg
http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y486/ziltoid1/3_zps0020cc8c.jpg

[Verivus]

Did your puppy have an overbite since you first got him? How bad is the overbite? Are these baby teeth that are going into the gum? Or are they adult teeth that are coming in? Are any of the canines puncturing (or in danger of puncturing) the palette?

At 5 months old, if the bite isn't too bad, it may correct itself. If it's baby teeth then I would consider getting it pulled if it's going into the gums like you say, but if it's already loose then it may fall out on its own relatively soon. However, once adult teeth start coming in and the jaw isn't correcting itself I would probably just go ahead and get the "shaving" procedure done. If any of the lower canines are puncturing the palette then I would definitely get it done ASAP.

My GSD has a very bad overbite. At 10 weeks he had to get his lower canines pulled because of the trauma they were causing on his gums. At 6 months he needed to get dental work done (can't remember the name of the procedure off the top of my head).

[Ziltoid]

Originally Posted by Verivus

Did your puppy have an overbite since you first got him? How bad is the overbite? Are these baby teeth that are going into the gum? Or are they adult teeth that are coming in? Are any of the canines puncturing (or in danger of puncturing) the palette?

At 5 months old, if the bite isn't too bad, it may correct itself. If it's baby teeth then I would consider getting it pulled if it's going into the gums like you say, but if it's already loose then it may fall out on its own relatively soon. However, once adult teeth start coming in and the jaw isn't correcting itself I would probably just go ahead and get the "shaving" procedure done. If any of the lower canines are puncturing the palette then I would definitely get it done ASAP.

My GSD has a very bad overbite. At 10 weeks he had to get his lower canines pulled because of the trauma they were causing on his gums. At 6 months he needed to get dental work done (can't remember the name of the procedure off the top of my head).

I think he probably always had it. Honestly I didn't check or notice it when I first got him (8 weeks)... but I didn't know that overbites could be a problem so didn't even think to look at it. The first time I took him to the vets (12 weeks) the vet mentioned that he had one but didn't think it would be a problem so suggested we just wait and see if it improved as he grew. I didn't really think any more of it until yesterday.

It's the adult teeth that are in danger of going into the upper palette. I think it's pretty bad judging by what my vet said. The lower canines are basically in line with upper ones... the lower canine should sit in front of the upper one when closed so they would have to move quite a long way to do that. I tried to add links to some photos of it but am not sure if they actually show anything useful.

When you say that you got dental work done at 6 months, did you get the shaving procedure done?

Does your dog have caps on the teeth and have the caps ever broken or needed re-capping?

Did you need to get root canal therapy done as part of it?


Sorry for all the questions. As I said I didn't even know this could be a problem until yesterday and am trying to find out as much as possible before I speak to the dental specialist.

Thank you for responding.

[Verivus]

Yes, the "shaving" procedure (the name of which escapes me atm) is the one I did. They shaved down the lower canines and the incisors for him. I did not get his teeth capped. From what the dentist was telling me, most caps fall off in a couple years unless you go with titanium which runs into a few thousand... Right now one of his lower canines is bruised so I may have to get a root canal done.

[selzer]

I would not do anything to those teeth. The dog's head and skull is still growing. If you correct something now you might over-correct. And it really doesn't look all that bad. I would do a wait and see approach to this. So long as your dog is eating ok. Overbites usually do not cause major problems, under-bites usually will not correct themselves. Overbites are preferable in that respect.

[Ziltoid]

Originally Posted by Verivus

Yes, the "shaving" procedure (the name of which escapes me atm) is the one I did. They shaved down the lower canines and the incisors for him. I did not get his teeth capped. From what the dentist was telling me, most caps fall off in a couple years unless you go with titanium which runs into a few thousand... Right now one of his lower canines is bruised so I may have to get a root canal done.

Oh no, I hope your little guy is OK. I think I may have read your thread in my searches for information on overbites.

Yeah, my vet mentioned that caps often need re-doing. I wasn't aware that they cut be cut down / shaved without a cap being put on so that is good to know.

Any surgery is already looking like it will be well over a thousand so I really don't think I could afford titanium on top of that.

[selzer]

I don't want to tell you what to do. But I will tell you what I would do. I would let the puppy grow into his mouth.

[selzer]

When Cujo was 6 weeks old, he had some cut on his head, and I rushed him to the ER, and the vet looked him over, and said, my he has a bad overbite. I freaked out. I took him to my regular vet and she looked at it and said it would probably straighten itself out. it did.

[Ziltoid]

Originally Posted by selzer

I would not do anything to those teeth. The dog's head and skull is still growing. If you correct something now you might over-correct. And it really doesn't look all that bad. I would do a wait and see approach to this. So long as your dog is eating ok. Overbites usually do not cause major problems, under-bites usually will not correct themselves. Overbites are preferable in that respect.

Thanks for your input selzer. I am really reluctant to get surgery done unless it is absolutely neccessary so it's good to hear from someone else that feels that might be a good idea. I'm still going to see the dental specialist on Friday to see her thoughts but was figuring I would put off surgery until I was 100% sure there is no other option.

It is definitely not affecting his appetite at this stage.

I don't really care whether he ever gets a 'perfect' bite as long as he is living pain free. The concern is whether the teeth are going to punch through the roof of his mouth, the adult teeth only came through fairly recently so they've still got a lot of growing to do... they already touch the top gums which is the scary part.

[Ziltoid]

Originally Posted by selzer

I don't want to tell you what to do. But I will tell you what I would do. I would let the puppy grow into his mouth.

Haha!! Nicely put.

I really hope that surgery is not necessary and have been saving various threads and photos on my phone of dogs that came good on their own, just in case the specialist gets really pushy on surgery... I was going to show her them and use that as justification for holding off for a while.


I was in an absolute panic when I left the vets yesterday, within a few minutes of getting home my vet had already called back to say that he'd put the referral through and giving me the dental specialists details to make an appointment... and basically saying my only options were complete removal or a major cut back and cap which I think involves root canal.

After doing a little searching around here and other sites I calmed down a little. At least there is hope that things may sort themselves out... whether that happens or not only time will tell.