Broken tooth - apparently this is common!

[Eva (Lilo and Rocky)]

Poor Rocky broke a tooth yesterday and needed to have it extracted. I could have opted for a root canal and a crown, but that procedure would set me back about $2K, so opted for the cheaper solution (which still cost over $500 due to the aneasthesia and morphine shots). The vet told me that dogs often break or fracture a tooth and that they do not necessarily show you they're in pain. Signs of pain include lack of appetite, weight loss, constant licking (which Rocky did), lethargy, and refusal to drink or eat.

 

Thought I would share this, since I would be devastated to learn my dog had been in pain for a while without me knowing. Vet said to check dog's teeth regularly. Here's what the tooth looked like; as you can tell, the pulp was exposed:

 

 

 

[Eva (Lilo and Rocky)]

Thanks - he's perfectly fine now and doesn't seem to care that he lost a tooth...

[Linda, Webber and Seda]

The same thing happen to my neighbor's pit bull. They did the root canal and put a silver cap on the tooth. What they didn't find out until after the surgery, is that the dog remained at risk for breaking the silver tooth off if she played rough with frisbees or balls, etc. Seems like pulling the tooth would be a reasonable, and less expensive, thing to do! It looks very painful with the pulp hanging out. Ouch.

[Eva (Lilo and Rocky)]

yea, I figured as much since I have had a root canal and crown done myself, and the crown broke off !!! In any case, Rocky is fine and does not act differently without the tooth. Yes, he was in pain - poor thing, but we got it taken care of quickly (within hours of discovery).