# rotten teeth? infection?



## Chi-Chi (Jun 3, 2008)

Hello, lately I noticed my Ben's breath stinks! Last night I noticed one tooth was rotten looking..well I was right. About 15 minutes ago a tooth fell out, it was brown, and had a hole RIGHT through the middle. Now from what I can see no other teeth are like this, but I plan on taking him to the vet to have it checked out anyway. It didn't seem to give him any pain, but he is only a year old and it seems odd to me that he is already having issues with his teeth. I was thinking of brushing his teeth, does anyone else do this? does it help at all? thanks 

- Christina


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## LittleDogsRock (Aug 8, 2008)

I've heard from several sources that brushing the teeth can actually be more detrimental because the regulatory bacteria are swept away and the paste can irritate the fragile tissues. At the vet office I used to work at, there was one woman who brushed her dog's teeth with something called CET (He was a labrador, I believe). Here is the website:
http://www.virbacvet.com/cet/
There are a range of different options for improving the dental hygiene of your little one. I hope everything goes well for little Ben.


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## DozersMom (Sep 12, 2008)

Brushing their teeth is a very good idea, dont use human toothpaste though, even just getting the dog toothpaste in their mouth will help more than nothing, i cant remember exactly what is in dog toothpaste... i wanna say its special enzymes that help eat away at the calculus but ill have togo look it up in my book for sure... they are just like us we need to brush our teeth everyday and so do they (preferably) but you definately need to bring ben in because periodontal disease can progress and lead to very serious issues


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## Yoshismom (Jul 6, 2005)

As said above brushing helps keep them healthy but with our guys it is sometimes difficult as they are so small. I have heard that when you brush just to focus on the outside of the teeth as dog biscuits and such will clean the inside and the most part of the plaque build up is on the outside? I use the CET chews and they basically dissolve in the mouth while chewing so no worries with getting chunks lodged in throat or tummy;-) Also there is a liquid you can put in their water that you can buy at the vets office

As said above human tooth paste is bad for dogs so if you do decide to brush find a dog toothpaste, there is also a thimble looking rubber brush you can use on the end of your finger if you can find one small enough.

Yoshi had horrible issues with his teeth and it started when his baby teeth were not coming out as they should (this can be common in Chis) He had to have baby teeth removed and teeth cleanings 3 times before he was 1 1/2 yrs. Thankfully we have had no issues since and his breath has not been as bad either


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## OrchardLane (Aug 30, 2008)

Chi-Chi said:


> Hello, lately I noticed my Ben's breath stinks! Last night I noticed one tooth was rotten looking..well I was right. About 15 minutes ago a tooth fell out, it was brown, and had a hole RIGHT through the middle. Now from what I can see no other teeth are like this, but I plan on taking him to the vet to have it checked out anyway. It didn't seem to give him any pain, but he is only a year old and it seems odd to me that he is already having issues with his teeth. I was thinking of brushing his teeth, does anyone else do this? does it help at all? thanks
> 
> - Christina


This is common with younger dogs if it is one of their puppy teeth. It is natural for it to get squeezed out by the adult teeth. The blood supply/food supply to the tooth is cut off and it dies, turning brown and then falling out.

This can cause infection in the gums (alas the smell) as well. 

IF this was an adult tooth it could be genetic. Some lines have poor teeth. We use Leba III. It is amazing but it is more preventative for us as our dogs eat raw too hehe

http://www.leba.org/


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