UPDATE ON NED'S Slab Fracture on Back Molar

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We took the dogs to the vet today for their annual checkups and immunizations.  The vet found that Ned has a slab fracture on his back molar.  He said it is quite a common occurance - NOT at my house! His suggestion is to watch it and when it starts to get infected, have it removed.  I did a search on dk and what I found seems to bear out that repair is not always successful as well as bring very costly.   Ned chews on bones, antlers, Nylabones. I have always worried that since we use larger and strong chewer ones because of the bigger dogs it might be bad for Ned's smaller jaw/teeth.  Maybe this is not a good idea or maybe his tooth would do this anyway? Does anyone have any updated information they can share? Opinions on waiting until it bothers him?  Having the vet do the procedure rather than seeking a doggy dentist?  We are still paying for Gordie's CCL surgery........ sigh.

UPDATE. NED GOT HIS TOOTH PULLED

We had a phone consultation with a specialist and were told that pulling Ned's tooth was a relatively simple procedure.  So we decided to have our regular vet do it.  Since we were concerned that if we waited until it was infected ( allowing him to keep the tooth longer), there might be more complications, so we had it pulled last week. 

Ned had nothing to eat or drink after midnight and was dropped off  at 8 a.m.  I  called periodically all day only to be told that they hadn't gotten to him yet.  We called at 4:00 and he still hadn't been worked on, so we decided that we would pick him up and bring him back. But when we got there they were just finishing him up and they said we would have to leave him overnight!  I was quite upset about that because Ned has never been away from  us at night,  he doesn't eat in public and doesn't pee or poo for others or on-leash very well at all.  I was there when they opened the next morning expecting a mad, pouty Ned.  However, a cheerful good-smelling, happy-to-see-me Ned pranced out to greet me the next morning. As soon as we got outside to the grass, he peed for about an hour! 

He is taking 50 mg of Rimadyl once a day and the antibiotic, Clindamycin, 75 mg twice a day.  He was starving for a couple of days and even ate as soon as I set the dish down, but now has settled back into his old habit of night eating - but with an improved appetite.  I was told I didn't need to, but I have been softening his kibble and will continue to do so until he runs out of meds.  He had a few disolving stitches to close the gum and my logic tells me that he shouldn't irritate it with hard kibble. Because he is eating every meal, I wonder if his tooth had been bothering him for a long, long time (perhaps a crack that was not noticed by the groomer or at other check ups)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I hope he can also.  With the Fluff'nudder Ned one might not notice lost weight , but with a whippet every ounce shows.  She certainly will be alerted if he slows down on his eating.