Buddy was in for his neuter today, and when I picked him up the vet tech told me they had checked out his mouth, and both his upper canines are "dead". She said that sometimes they "seal off" on their own, and don't cause any problems, but that we should look out for red gums or difficulty chewing / changes in eating habits. He also had 2 other teeth that are chipped.

Poor guy was pretty anxious so I didn't have time to chat too much, preferring to just get him out of there.

So, what IS a dead tooth? What causes these? what kind of things should I be doing / not doing now that I know about this? (I assume bones are probably not a great idea anymore?)

Okay, let's see if I can make this work. A dead tooth is exactly what it sounds like - the blood that should be flowing into / though the pulp of the tooth isn't and/or the nerve in the nerve canal of the tooth is dead.

For an example - in humans when we have a cavity, the tooth will often die. Meaning the nerves that run into the teeth are no longer viable and the nerve canal may need to be "cleaned" and sealed - a root canal.

If you've ever seen the x-rays from your dentist, you'll often see a darker streak showing in the middle of the tooth. That's the canal that runs through the root - that's normal.

Take a look at this PetDentist site for more information.

... and personally, I'd lay off the bones until you determine the extent of damage to the tooth - which will, I believe, require doggie dental x-rays.

thanks for the information.

I'm going to give the vet a call this week and get a more thorough debrief & see what options there may be.

The person I spoke to didn't mention anything about x-rays, and said I should just watch for redness & any changes in chewing habits.

he won't be getting any more bones, poor guy, they are his favourite thing in the world. I'm hoping it wasn't chewing marrow bones that caused this damage in the first place. I'd usually take it away after he got all the meat off it, before he started chewing hard on the bone, but he did go to town on a few bones when I first got him, before I knew better.

buddy would not let anyone get a good look in his mouth during previous visits, so we don't know how long his teeth have been like this. he has, however, improved greatly with his handling issues over the past few months, although he still does like to give me some attitude now & then.

Poor guy. The longer the tooth is dead the more grey colored they will often become. That is strange that both canines have died. I probably wouldn't expect the bones to be the culprit since they both may have died. As al said, the xrays should shine some light on the extent.