Genetics and teeth - only pup with a problem - Page 1

Hello all. Hope you are all doing well. I have a question for you after lurking a fair bit. I have a dog (12 months) with a lower canine that is not in the right place. One lower is fine, the other is not. The one canine is pushing into the gum of the upper jaw and is off by a small amount. It is not correcting itself. This was to be a breeding female. Hips are prelimed fine, temperament is sound, pup is otherwise healthy. No other pup in the litter has this problem and neither parent has the problem. Was it a oneoff situation or is the bitch going to pass down this problem? Is there still a chance it could correct? Thank you for your time.

I had the same issue a few years ago with a male puppy from a litter, and the teeth of his siblings were fine. I produced one (1) more litter from this breeding pair and did not see it again. So, what is the repeatability? Can't say as I have seen it but once and it evidently does not happen often. It may have no genetic origin at all, and is merely an issue from teething where the original canine did not dislodge itself correctly, or the "set" of the tooth was damaged when the tooth was very new. At one (1) year of age it will probably not correct itself, and surgery may be required. Will this cause failure of a breed survey? Very possibly so, since the scissor bite must be correct. Hopefully I am wrong and the tooth will eventually assume its correct position. Time will tell. Bob-O

This problem is caused by the milk canini, persisting too long in the jaw. The milk canini prohibit a n exact growth of the permanent canini into the right position. That means: you have to observe carefully the milk canini, if they are not falling out, you have to extract them, to get a proper growth of the permanent teeth. To Japan: do the canini have the scissor bite? A correction is necessary on animal care reasons: the gum can be permanently inflamed by the bite of the caninus, bringing small amounts of food into this cavity. Bacterial growth can lead to severe infections. The age is not limiting a correction, it can be done also in older animals. You have to find an experienced veterinary dentist explaining to you what can be done. The narrow stand of the milk canini is a genetic trait, so it is up to you, if you breed with this bitch.