Teeth - grasping at straws! - Page 1

A while back I posted about a 7 week puppy who only had 4 upper incisors. Well, at just before three months the most lateral one (milk tooth) came through, leaving a gap between this and the central one on the right side. Now she is just four months and all the (5) top incisors have changed for the permanent ones, but she still has this gap. I am pretty sure now that this tooth will be missing, but as she is a lovely puppy I will have her X-rayed asap to be sure. In the meantime I was wondering if anyone knew of any cases of teeth coming through late and out of order? Esp as one milk tooth did not come until nearly 3 months.. Also, does anyone know if she was to particpate in a show at nearly 5 months old, and this tooth is still mssing, would she be put at the back, or are missing teeth not penalised until 7 months?

If there is a gap where a tooth would be that might be an indicator that something is there but not coming through the gumline. If the one tooth was just never there, the remaining 5 teeth would more likely be evenly spaced and use all of the room available. I would wait til the pup is 6-7 months old, then prescreen hips and elbows and have the mouth x-rayed to see if the missing tooth just did not erupt. No idea where you are located and what your local rules are. Under SV rules a missing incisor is a minor flaw, dog can still get KKL with it, though only KKL2.

Thank you D.H. I am in Ecuador but we follow SV rules, mostly. Suppose the X-ray showed a tooth that has not erupted, how would this affect her chances of getting KKL1 and her rating in shows, if the X-ray is presented? There is definitley a gap where the tooth should be, they are not evenly spaced. Do you have any reason for waiting until 6 months rather than doing the X-ray now?