# Dental extraction - Hillbilly



## browndogbrownguy (Nov 10, 2015)

Ladies and Gentlemen -

I hope what I`m about to share will help you at some point if the need arises. I usually am OCD about dental hygiene of my 2 year old Vizsla. I noticed a fractured upper left canine during the daily routine. A big chip, and there was a slight pink part exposed. This ofcourse I knew was bad news - as this meant the enamel was gone and the dentine was showing. The thickness of enamel on dogs are less than that of humans. Also you could see a pin hole, and that meant bacteria had access to the nerves. I kept watching it for a couple of days, he didn`t seem bothered and kept on going on as usual. I spoke to a vet and he said some dogs have broken jaws and show no signs of pain. Tough buggers. I spoke to another vet and he said he had a Lab with most of his tooth broken from excessive chewing. I was getting conflicting information on what to do - some said leave it be, and some said take action. My gut said - take action. I actually had a schoolmate die of a tooth infection, as the infection traveled to her brain. She was this brilliant, gregarious healthy girl - she passed away suddenly.

I was hunting and I met a gentleman in the woods and we started talking. He mentioned he made dental crowns for a living. I wanted his opinion on my Vizslas tooth, as this was his area of expertise. He looked at it and said, it was a good candidate for a crown - and he would make one for me - free of charge. What serendipity! I know K9 dogs have metal crowns on their canine tooth. I knew something had to be done about the broken tooth, so why not get a crown.

I booked an appointment with the Dental Vet who lives about 2.5 hours away. The dentist looked at it, and he immediately said a root canal was necessary - 2200$. Left unchecked it could lead to infection, and cause serious issues. I mentioned about the crown, and he said he would do it but it would cost 3600$, as they had to put the dog under anesthesia on two different occasions. 

It was too expensive to go the crown route. Although secretly I hoped my Vizsla would get a nice shiny crown, I gave up that idea. I wanted them to do the root canal to save the tooth. On X-Ray inspection, they found there was already infection starting and root canal would have only 50 pct chance of success. Also, you had to do a follow up at 6 months and a year, each costing 1000$. After a lot of thought I decided to have the tooth pulled.

It cost me 2100$ to have the tooth pulled! I have insurance and they covered 1350$ of it. So, definitely consider getting insurance for your Vizsla. Here again, I spoke to another vet to find out how much it would cost to pull tooth out, and the range I got was from 150$ to 2000$, depending on a lot of factors. Since I was already there, I just wanted to get done with it. I didn`t know how much discomfort he was in.

After the tooth extraction my Vizsla was asked to take 4 weeks off, from hunting and strenuous activity. That`s impossible for a Vizsla! Put a Weim in the mix, and you don`t have a chance. He is two years old, has been to the emergency twice already. Sometimes I do wonder why on earth would anyone breed a dog of the Vizsla intensity - he doesn`t know how to go slow or pace himself. He`s always intense, running at full speed into things, getting scratched and bruised. The first time I took him off leash on a bike ride after his tooth extraction, he hits his jaw full steam on a tree trunk. Starts bleeding. Take him on a hike, he`s running full steam on rock gardens, and it`s only about time he`s going to break his leg. Call him and he runs back at full intensity - and that`s why the insurance.

Now, my Vizsla is a Hillbilly with a missing tooth. He always has a serious look, but now his lip goes a bit in as he doesn`t have his canine to hold it in place. Looks quite hilarious actually.

Attached is the picture of his extracted tooth. On the left end of it, the round fleshy part is the infected cells. The right you can see the fracture and the black hole, that exposes the nerves.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I'm surprised they don't break more teeth, than they do. 
Glad the story has a happy ending. We need some Hillbilly pictures of your guy.
My last foster had no front teeth.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

You should have found out where these dogs get their dental work done.


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## Canadian Expy (Feb 27, 2013)

When our guy was 1.5 years old he broke his lower right canine chasing a ball on a mostly sand beach - he happened to find a rock as he swooped in to pick up his ball. Your right BDBG - with the intensity of these dogs it's a wonder they aren't injured more often! He didn't make a peep when it happened. He came running back to us with his tail wagging carrying his ball in his mouth, and blood dripping down his face. Though he didn't seem in pain, I've had severe dental pain before and knew he HAD to feel it. 

I made an appointment with our vet for the next day (we were out of town on vacation when it happened) and we were referred to a dental specialist (who works on enforcement K9s, zoo animals, etc). Our vet strongly recommended something be done, and that the tooth not be left as it was. Since the incident had just occurred our vet felt that the tooth may be able to be saved if the lower tooth hadn't been fractured from the impact, and there was no infection setting in. He felt our odds were good since it had been less than 72 hours since injury. 

What I did not know about the lower canine teeth is that the tooth (and root) is extremely long, and makes up a part of the jaw. If that tooth requires extraction, the jaw bone can actually break from the procedure. We were fortunate that the lower tooth was not fractured, and the specialist was able to perform vital pulp therapy (around $2000) and fill the tooth using two different materials, covering the root. We are on year 3 of success with this procedure, although last year he managed to displace the top layer of the filling from the tooth and had to have it replaced (around $1000). 

The other thing I didn't know about adult canine teeth it is take them to around 1.4 years of age to mature and become solid. Before then they are actually somewhat hollow, and easier to break (based on what I recall from the diagram I was shown). You'd think an animal whose mouth is used for gnawing and chewing would have better equipped teeth. (If I am wrong in my understanding of canine teeth, please correct me  )

We are now extremely careful with the chews he gets (antlers are the #1 cause of dental fractures our specialist sees, crate anxiety and broken teeth is a another one). I'm fairly certain it was an antler that knocked out his top layer of filling. We till to finding antlers (scenting) vs using them for chewing. 

Below is a photo of the tooth when it was knocked off, and a diagram similar to the 3D jaw model my vet showed me when we were discussing the tooth. If the tooth does end up failing (we xray it once a year), a root canal will be the next step (and more $$$) so fingers crossed!

This is another potential expense many may not consider when adding a dog to their family.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Harlow had no front teeth, only gums. 
I don't know her story, just guessing they were worn down from excessively chewing on something.


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## browndogbrownguy (Nov 10, 2015)

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience everyone. My boy won`t be getting any chews - he used to get 1/3rd of a smoked bone everyday in his crate while I was at work. He absolutely loved them. He loved his antlers and his yak chews. Now, he`s getting semi frozen carrots. No tug of war. I don`t allow him to play rough with the Weim anymore too.


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## mlg1900 (Jun 12, 2013)

Love the pictures in this thread. And the hillbilly comment really had me LOLing! 

My Ginger also fractured a tooth. Except this was her molar. Extraction cost around 800 to 1000 dollars. We had some OFA xrays done also at the time, so I do not recall just the dental cost. I was told a root canal at a dental specialist would costs 2k to 3k and we would have to travel almost 2 hours to get there. So we opted for the extraction. We are not sure of the exact item that our girl broke her tooth on but we did throw away the Himalayan dog chews, water buffalo horns, and pig hoofs. No more of that stuff for our girls!


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