Fractured Teeth- Schutzhund - Page 1

My 7 month old GSD fractured one of his small premolars on the bottom jaw this past weekend.  After visiting a veterinary dentist, he recommended that the tooth be extracted due to the root being visible and to prevent any infection.  We are doing schutzhund with him (he is still in the early stages of bitework-not on the sleeve yet), so we are concerned that having the tooth extracted (although the vet told us it was a non-esstential tooth when it comes to bitework and chewing) will affect his grip on the sleeve and his bite moving forward.  The vet said that becuase of his age, root canal therapy and a metal crown wasn't really an option due to the thinness of the tooth enamel at this age and the size of the root inside.  He said that if this had happened when the dog was 2 years old or once the enamel has a chance to thicken than that would be an option, but becuase of how young he is, the only real option is to have it extracted.  Does anyone have any experience with this and any thoughts on if it will affect his bite/grip down the road if we have it extracted?  Our first priority is his health and secondly it is his schutzhund work.  Any thoughts are much appreciated!

I had one that also fractured a tooth and it was removed.  It was also a premolar and it never stopped her from doing bitework.  She only needed about a 10 day rest period where we didnt do bitework, then she was back to normal. 

Thanks for the reply!  Mostly what we've heard is that is the case, that they go right back to normal as if nothing happened, but we had a few folks in the schutzhund world tell us that their dogs were never quite the same on the sleeve once a tooth was removed.  We're hoping that becuase he's so young that he'll compensate for it and think that it's normal for his mouth to feel the way it will without the tooth.

one word...............wait for it....................wait for it............................................Titanium

My dog had that same thing happened to him when he was about 7 and already a Sch III. It was a canine tooth though and it had to be extracted and a root canal done. I did put the titanium tooth on the broken one and it was the worse decision I made.
His bite was never the same, but, remember, different tooth, and he was not competing anymore, so, that was not the problem. The problem was that after I gave him a bite on a SOFT sleeve about 2 months later, the tooth came off. Putting it back required having the dog go back under general and such, did it again, no more bites...walked to the bathroom one night in the dark and stepped on something sharp, yep, it was the tooth that fell out again and I never put back either.
$2500 wasted for nothing but lesson learned, never again. 

If you are panning on showing and breed surveying your dog, then have this event recorded... or you will not be able to get decent koer.

Good luck. I am sure your puppy will be just fine without one tooth

Thanks for the thoughts everyone!  We documented all his teeth when they came in and are having the vet take pictures before and after he extracts the tooth.  Our vet is also writing a letter stating that the fractured tooth was due to an injury and resulted in the extraction of the tooth and not a birth defect or missing from birth.  This way we can prove to a judge down the road in a breed survey or conformation.  Hopefully, that covers us.

Maybe this can put you at ease....
This is my girl Mira who will be 11 years old in acouple of months, playing with
her son Theo who is six and Mira's great-grand daughter running about.

Mira is missing a few teeth here and there, but you sure as heck wouldn't know it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSkTl67Zrh0 

    Paula

I would make sure your dog has plenty of tasty steaks to eat.
He'll never think about the tooth if you do this.

Rorie had two teeth pulled in Febuary-they were fractured.  Attempted to have a root canal done but it wasn't successful- It hasn't affected her bitework