Bite defect advice

Re: Bite defect advice

Laurence Webb — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 22:19:40 GMT

Thanks Evelyn.

Re: Bite defect advice

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 14:55:12 GMT

Radiograph it before doing anything.

Re: Bite defect advice

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 14:53:37 GMT

I'm not sure the rubber ball technique will make much difference to this one, but I don't think it will be harmful.

I've looked at the pictures as hard as I can, and.............

I don't see much likelihood at all of palate trauma. Why should there be? The lower 4s are occluding on the upper 3s. Possible consequences: continuing further displacement of the upper 3s; trauma to oral surface of upper lip from those upper 3s; arrested eruption of the lower 4s; damage to the periodontal tissues of the upper 3s; excess wear of upper 3s or lower 4s; pulpal damage to upper 3s or lower 4s (stretching it a bit); discomfort in teeth from the clashing; discomfort in soft tissues.

You could wait and see. Dogs can live perfectly happily with the weirdest-looking malocclusions.

If you plan to do something: extraction of the upper 3s would be logical and sensible (and also, incidentally, improve the cosmetic appearance). If doing that, I would extract the lower 3s as well (they are grossly displaced, look ugly, might possibly be partly blocking the lower 4s and will probably be prone to periodontal disease later).

But be warned: extraction of any permanent tooth in such a young dog is relatively difficult: the dentine is very thin, a mere shell. And at any age extraction of a healthy upper 3 is more difficult than you might expect from the ease of extracting any other incisors. This tooth is "caninised"; it's like a miniature canine tooth, with a very chunky root. It has a huge curve in it, more than 45 degrees, and near the apex it normally has a second curve, laterad.

Re: Bite defect advice

Laurence Webb — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 09:59:27 GMT

Yes, there is no hard palate trauma as yet, hence my uncertainty whether to get in there straight away or not. As the canines get longer trauma may become a problem. Look forward to hearing your dentist's views.

Re: Bite defect advice

James Laidlaw — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 09:01:04 GMT

(Had another post, but edited after seeing pics)

Doesn't look like there's any hard palate trauma from the lower canines - I have a case like this I've asked for advice from a dentist on and will let you know what they say when I hear back.

Re: Bite defect advice

Michael Woodhouse — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 21:43:27 GMT

I'd take the upper 2 out.