Underbite

[Michelle Bowman]

Took theodoee, a mini goldendoodle, to his first vet appt...weighted 2 lbs and 3 ounces :) anyway, the vet said they're worried about his underbite...does anyone else's mini goldendoodle have this as well? They had me nervous

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

What a teeny, tiny puppy you have! I’d google underbites in dogs to give yourself some basic knowledge about it. Lots of underbites are no big deal. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Googling "underbites in dogs" doesn;t really give you any answers, because there are so many different types of underbites, and often, the breed and the age make a difference in the prognosis.

In the same vein, while others here have certainly had goldendoodle puppies with underbites, their situations may be completely different from your puppy's, and the treatments if any would also be different. 

One common problem is base narrow canines, which has been discussed here extensively. 

In all cases, underbites are genetic and most breeder's health warranties don;t cover them. Some types need treatment; other mild malocclusions may resolve as the permanent teeth come in. Your vet is the best source for info on this. 

What confuses me is why you wouldn;t have asked the vet for more info: why are they worried, what is the exact type of malocclusion and what consequences might there be from it, what can be done about it, if necessary, etc? 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I should have added—- before you go to the vet. Just to give you some basic knowledge of terminology. 

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

You may want to take your baby to a veterinarian dentist for an evaluation. Our Desi’s lower canine teeth were angled wrong so that one was pushing into his palate. Left untreated, it may have broken through the palate and opened him up for infection, not to mention much pain. If the problem had been caught a bit earlier, we could have done something called “ball therapy” to help guide his emerging teeth into a better position. As it was, he had “doggy braces” - a resin-type material was affixed to his bottom canines for a couple of months. As he’d close his mouth the extra fat lower canines were forced to (slowly) angle outward. Once the proper angle was achieved, the resin was removed. 

The process wasn’t exactly cheap, but it bought Desi a lifetime without a painful mouth - not to mention a dazzling smile!

Because your puppy is still young, the ball therapy (or something similar) is still on the table and much cheaper than what we did for Desi. Good luck. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is an example of what is called "base narrow canines", which I mentioned above. We've had several members whose dogs had this. 

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

Google “ball therapy for dogs” to get an idea of what it is/does. I would seek vet input before doing it. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Good advice. 

Here are the results of a search I did here on DK for "ball therapy". Lots of responses:
http://www.doodlekisses.com/page/search-results?q=%22ball+therapy%2...