My dog busted his grill

Jinn · February 2008

So, this is kind of an oddball issue for this place I guess but I know I've seen stranger around here so...

My dog busted one of his front teeth out (not the fang teeth or any of his chompers, just the little ones in the front of his grill), which has happened before no big deal once the bleeding stops, except this time the tooth didn't come out completely. There's still a jagged piece of broken tooth stuck in the hole and this worries me a little. I poked it and it's still pretty well stuck in there, not like I can just yank the rest of it out or anything, so I guess my question is how concerned should I be? Will it just kind of die and fall out on it's own, should I try to get it out or just leave it alone or what? I know most people are probably just going to suggest taking him to the vet which I can and will do if need be, but I just don't want to waste the money unless its really necessary. Like I said he busted out one of his other teeth a couple months ago but it came out clean and the hole just healed up after a couple days and everything was fine. The good thing about dogs is they're tough bastards, but I don't want to overestimate his fortitude if the remaining piece of tooth poses any significant long-term issues. Other dog owners, what do you think?

ps he just ran in to another dog really hard while they were playing... total accident. Don't want anyone to think I'm abusing my dog or anything fucked up like that. Last time this happened it was virtually the same thing, he and another dog went for the same tennis ball and collided pretty hard. Mine just always seems to be the one that comes away with the injury.

Starcore · February 2008

I'd say give it a couple days. If it doesn't get infected or seem to bother him, it might be okay. If it seems to give him any kind of trouble, take him to the vet and have them take a look at it. I don't think it'll cause a huge amount of trouble for him, but you never know, and it's much harder for a dog to tell you when something's wrong than for someone else.

Zeon · February 2008

He should be ok. The only thing id be worried about is the tooth being sharp and cutting his tongue. Other than that, it probably wont hurt him past the initial few days when its still tender and the nerve inside of it still alive. If he stops eating or anything though, take him to the vet to get it pulled.

Trowizilla · February 2008

I'd take him to the vet. Infections in the mouth can really, really quickly spread to the brain, and dogs use their mouths for everything, so it can easily get infected.. Also remember that dogs don't generally show pain the way people do, so you really can't be sure that he's not suffering because of it. My family's dog once managed to drive a piece of wood the width of my pinkie into the roof of her mouth and the only reason we found out about it was that her tennis balls started having drops of blood on them. They're stoic beasties, but it's not right to let him possibly suffer when you can take him to the vet and get it fixed.