Interesting Cases

"Retained Baby Teeth"

Puppies and kittens have a set of deciduous teeth (baby teeth) that erupt between 3-8 weeks of age. This set of teeth last until 4 months of age at which time their permanent teeth begin to erupt. Retained deciduous teeth are a common occurrence in many of our dog and cat patients, especially our small breed dog patients (poodles & terriers).

The canine teeth are the most commonly
retained. When this occurs it may cause a malocclusion (abnormal bite or positioning of the teeth) or predispose a pet to tartar buildup and gingivitis. In this picture an upper canine is retained.

Treatment of this condition requires extraction of the retained baby tooth. A pet is given a general anesthetic, special elevators are used to properly remove all of the retained tooth and root. The root of the retained tooth is long, curved and adjacent to the permanent tooth. Care must be taken not to fracture the tooth and leave any root behind as well as not cause any damage to the permanent tooth so it will erupt and function normally for years to come.

"Verdel" has the record of the most retained
teeth we have seen. The double row of incisor teeth
(front teeth) made up 11 of the 19 teeth that were
retained.

Note that in the second picture the canine or fang teeth (arrows) are push inward and with out timely extractions they would of erupted in an abnormal position. These misaligned lower canine teeth and cause trauma to the pets hard palate.

This condition is referred to as base narrow and would require an orthodontic palate to correct the abnormal bite. Because Verdel's extractions were performed at the right time she recovered fine and to date has a normal bite after extraction of 19 teeth. Below you can see the teeth. I bet she cleaned up with the tooth fairy!

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