Root Canal vs. Extraction

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

About six months ago, Wally broke one of his large upper molars by chewing on an antler. An x-ray at the time revealed that he had not exposed the pulp of the tooth and it wasn't broken beneath the gum line. This being the case, we were told to watch it. Now, six months later and a followup visit with his regular vet, it's clear that he needs to have it pulled or have a root canal. Wally has an appointment to see a canine dentist early on Monday morning, and then afterwards, he will be admitted for whichever surgery is recommended. It is possible, though, that we may need to make a choice between the two procedures. This is where I need your help. What have your experiences been with either surgery, particularly one involving a large molar? Thanks.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm sorry to hear this Laurie. I have no experience with this, but will be interested in hearing what others have to say. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

Ditto.

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

My discussion also appears in the Health & Medical Issues group.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

The same thing happened to Gracie Doodle about a year ago.  I posted it and also a warning on eating Antlers.  Gracie had two root canals.  On each bottom three-root molar.  These are major eating and chewing teeth and at 6 years old it was too young for her to have those teeth missing...IMO.  We paid around $4000 for the procedure but it would have been about the same if we had had extractions.  These are not teeth that the vet just pulls in the office.  There is surgery involved (if they are the three-rooted molars) and it can be just as costly because of the procedure involved.  We went to the top veterinary oral surgeon in San Diego...there are only two of them!!  Also, we were told that there is a greater risk during the surgery of something going wrong if they were to perform the extraction surgery. This is the description of "Extraction Surgery" that I have from my handout they gave me.

Extraction is the surgical procedure of removing any infected/painful tooth from the patient's mouth.  It includes the loosening of the periodontal ligament and removal of the tooth from the jaw as well as suturing (stitching) the extraction site in the vast majority of cases.  With larger extractions (especially carnassial and canines), the teeth often need to be cut into pieces, and surrounding bone removed to ease the extraction.  The surrounding bone will be smoothed if necessary after the extraction is completed.  Due to the size of teeth and the level of pathology in our patients extractions can be a challenging and time consuming procedure.  In addition, these procedures involve the use of sharp instruments and high speed drills. It is delicate work as there are numerous critical structures surrounding the oral cavity, including significant nerves and blood vessels, the eyes and the brain.  Finally, in certain situations (especially with the extraction of the lower canine and first molar teeth) the thin bone in the area may predispose to a jaw fracture.  Therefore, extraction procedures will ONLY be performed by a veterinarian or well trained resident.  At no time will students/visiting veterinarians be allowed to perform any surgical procedure on  your patient.

After reading this it was a no brainer for us.  We chose the root canal and it went perfectly.  I don't let Gracie chew on bones, branches or antlers any longer...no biggie for her.  She has her tennis balls!

Good luck with your decision!

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Thanks, Nancie. This is very informative information. I just got a phone call from the oral surgeon, who said that Wally's lab results showed that his liver enzymes are elevated. This is likely because six months ago, he started to take Rimadyl for his hip dysplasia. So, now, I need to bring him into our regular vet tomorrow morning for a bioacid liver test, the results of which will determine if it's okay for him to have general anesthesia on Monday. Also, we will be discontinuing the Rimadyl immediately. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I answered on your other post.  Ned's fracture was an upper back molar and pulling was recommended by our vet and the general consensus of people I asked.  We didn't wait for the tooth to break or to become infected or diseased.  He had NO problems with either the extraction with general anesthesia, or missing a tooth in his mouth.  The cost was a few hundred bucks and included cleaning the teeth. This was not the tooth you are talking about, but I wanted you to know that extractions can be just fine.

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

That was "bile-acid test," not bioacid!

[F, Calla & Luca]

I wondered what bio acid was.

[sandy b]

I agree with Nancie, also stay away from nylabones. Several years ago a friend's dog had a root canal. She is a small dog under 20 lbs & was about 3 yrs old. Because it was a molar & being so young her vet sent her to a specialist & that was his recommendation.

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Yup, the manager of one of our local pet-supply stores advised me against buying the hard Nylabones when Charlotte was a puppy for this very reason.  It's just not worth the risk.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Sorry to hear about this, keep us updated on Wally!

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Thanks for posting Laurie!  Beau loves chewing on Antlers, but you have convinced me with this post that he should not be eating them.  Antlers going to the trash!  I also quit giving them bully sticks about 5 months ago because Beau seemed to itch like crazy the day after eating one.  Oh dear, no more fun, smelly stuff to chew on!  We wish Wally a speedy recovery when he has the surgery.