beef bones, cracked tooth? Extraction. Revenge of the cows. UPDATE: new pics, cleaned teeth.

All, 6 y.o., has a slab fracture in a carnasial tooth.  Split in half.   $630 for extraction and cleaning while he's anesthetized.   NOTE: see final photos, showing cleaned teeth.

We would easily have spotted this is we'd been looking.

The only way I can imagine him cracking that tooth is on the beef femur bones I love to buy them.  I've been a negligent, indulgent dog-daddy.  I haven't even looked at their teeth in ages.  This is obvious, and the plaque is terrible.  People here warned about the danger of big heavy bones, and I did not heed. They LOVE to gnaw those bones, for weeks.

I should have taught him to floss more often.  Note here the pink, healthy gum color, while the lower black gum is normal pigment (black gums only in tris?):

Weeks later, the trapezoid-shaped piece with the heavy plaque is a loose flake.  Note the red gum inflammation. 

I wonder if the truncation of the canines is from grinding on gritty tennis balls?  Or traumatic breakage?

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We were told to never let Machete to have Nylabones for a risk they may pose to teeth, so we don't.  Sorry for the super late response, but that was one bit of advise we were given to protect the pup's teeth.

My didi had a slab fracture off a hoove. I think that it's just something that's a little random with more or less risk depending but really, if it's gonna happen to you, it's gonna happen.

There must be something in the air, water, or bone because Bento cracked his back lower molar too.  I was brushing his teeth last night when I noticed it.  Bento is fond of gnawing on knuckle bones and antlers.  Of course, he likes to chew on rocks from the yard too, so it could be any of these culprits.  We'll take Bento to the vet on Tuesday, and we hope it's not too bad.  This will be an expensive Christmas gift for Bento.  :(

So, after a visit at the SF SPCA and $120, Bento did indeed cracked & chipped his tooth all the to the pulp.  Estimated cost is $1200.  We're going to another vet to get another quote.  Oh Bento, there goes your Christmas, Birthday, Christmas, Birthday, and Christmas gifts.

SF SPCA is notorious for being VERY expensive. I would definitely search elsewhere for a cheaper price. I did have to pay $1000 for Franklin's extraction but the office visit was cheap and I have since found that I could have gotten it done elsewhere for about $600. You can get a quote from a VCA hospital usually they have free first exam coupons online so you can try a free quote from there, they are all over the bay area. 

Thanks for the information Melissa.  We took Bento to get a second opinion, and the vet said to keep watch for 3 months.  Since the tooth isn't bothering Bento, she's not inclined to extract it yet.  She mentioned that a diseased tooth would be easier to extract than a healthy tooth.  So we'll go back in 3 months to check.  If the tartar build up is on only one side, then there's proof that he's hurting and favoring it.  If it's still fine, we'll wait and monitor some more.

UPDATE 1/12/13:  extraction successful, Al's teeth look beautiful, and his breath is puppy-sweet.

Thank dog for vets.

Glad to hear that all went well!  :)

Woo for vets :) Great to hear it was a success!

In case anyone is interested in seeing what a crown looks like after a slab fracture:

Since he's two and a half and the tooth could be saved with a root canal, I went for it.  Happier jaw bone (less bone mass loss over time), happier dog, and with the crown it's much less likely that the root canal would need to be done again (since a young dog is likely to outlive the filling).  

Mishka says everyone should call him Dr. Teeth now, for his bling.

Well.   If that isn't the classiest thing I've ever seen.  Not to be outdone, Al is going to have a titanium implant and crown.*

Al's slab fracture was the mildest part of it.  The tooth was split clean in half, and the tip was missing.  Looked like he tried to crack a rock.

*actually, of course, Al is not going to get an implant.  I'm just going to see if I can get away with saying that.    ;)

"Fact checkers?!?  On the internet?!?"

Oh my goodness, that actually looks very cool!  Don't get me wrong, of course we all wish no dogs got damaged teeth.  But considering all that, it still looks pretty cool.  :-)

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