It seems like all of the tips are broken off of Kenzi's teeth. All the other dogs I've had have had their teeth wear down as they age and there might be the occasional broken tooth but this is the first dog where the sharp tip of all of her teeth it seem have been cleanly snapped off to a flat top. She has serious tartar issues and I've begun treating with denta sticks and smoked marrow bones but I'm worried her teeth might rot from the inside out with these breaks. Is this a breed thing that can happen as they age or has she just been chewing rocks? Is there something I can give to protect her teeth.

Stryker my Pitbull came from dog fighting all of his teeth are broken or chipped. He's three now his teeth besides being broken are in excellent condition. I make sure I give him things that aren't to hard on his teeth and brush his teeth to make sure they don't decay

I will have to see how she does with teeth brushing. She's interested in tooth brushes as she would like to chew on the handle of mine when I'm brushing my teeth. Kudos on taking in an ex-fighter. Pitbulls are such neat dogs and still so misused and misunderstood. There was a beautiful blue/grey Pit when I got my husky. If it wouldn't have shocked my husband so much I might would have changed my adoption. I'm very happy with Kenzi though. She's turned out to be a great dog. What kind of kibble do you feed Stryker? Soft kibble seems rare around these parts for less than $60 a bag.

Does she chew on rocks?

The one I have has three sides so it does the whole tooth and he loves his flavored toothpaste
edit: I feed Stryker TOTW it runs about $50 a bag here but he's 100lbs and it last about a month. I make sure to keep it in a sealable container otherwise it gets stale and he loses interest in the hardness

wpskier222 wrote:

Does she chew on rocks?

No, lol, not that I know of. Though I have seen her attempt to chew on the metal base of my husbands recliner. Wooden porch posts seem to be more her thing.

Could she be biting on the fence gate from your other post? Or does she just have unusually soft teeth?  I've had dogs old as the hills with great teeth and young dogs with horrible teeth and never treated one any different from the other.  I have read posts from some resident Vet Techs, maybe one will chime in with some better information.

Her teeth were broke when I got her. She was picked up loose on the streets of a city a few hours from me and no one has any idea what kind of life she came from or what she went through before animal control got her. She's well behaved so someone at some time worked with her a lot, but she is a bit of a chewer so a gate or a bbq grill could have initially been a cause for her teeth having been broke. I just don't want the breaks to get worse.

Have you had your vet look at her teeth, if so has she recommended a dental cleaning? I had greyhounds for over 10 years and the breed is notorious for bad teeth. I had their teeth cleaned once a year every year I had them, and frankly it could have been done 2 times a year. I even brushed their teeth everyday.

During Balon's recent checkup his teeth were graded a level one, I asked what that meant and she said it means they can see the beginnings of buildup at the gumline, when I look all I can see is a red line near the gums, so I ramped his teeth brushings up to one a day. I can already see a difference. I have read that Siberians can sometimes have bad teeth.

Her gums look good. That was one of the first things I checked after reading some other threads on tooth care on here and I was surprised with as much tartar as she had when I got her that her gums weren't showing red anywhere. Denta stiks and marrow bones have really helped but if it doesn't clean up some of the tartar closer to her gums soon I will try to get her in for a full cleaning to at least get us back to a base level for me to try and maintain from. My vet is about two hours away so getting in is easier said than done sometimes. (I recently moved, so that's why my vet's so far away. I'm still looking for a vet in my new area.)

I'm just noticing a similiar problem with my Bella. Unfortunately I couldnt say if her teeth where like this when I got her. Both mine where strays also and I got before going to chicago animal control, its difficult for me to check their mouths they hate being looked over by me. We're working on all the typical motions like looking at teeth still, they'll let you pet them but once you try to look at something particular they wiggle away and bolt. I have a bone bone for each pup and I wonder if thats not the issue, Bella loves to chew on hers doing so as I type, I feel bad taking it and I'm not sure what to substitute for it.

Bella_Jasper wrote:

...its difficult for me to check their mouths they hate being looked over by me.  We're working on all the typical motions like looking at teeth still, they'll let you pet them but once you try to look at something particular they wiggle away and bolt.  I have a bone bone for each pup and I wonder if thats not the issue, Bella loves to chew on hers doing so as I type, I feel bad taking it and I'm not sure what to substitute for it.

Kenzi doesn't like it if I scrutinize her too closely either. When I check her teeth I have to lay her on her side and rub her belly with one hand and use the other to poke her lip up. It does sound horrible sometimes when they chew on the bones. I haven't noticed any new or worse breaks to Kenzi since getting the bone, but she might not get as zealous when chewing as your dogs do. As far as another toy in its place, I'm not sure, I've heard great things about the Kong toys but haven't had a chance to try one. I would think something hard rubber would be a good play between the strength of a bone but still have the give so as not to break or harm teeth. It's going to be hard to replace that good ol' bone taste though.

Bella_Jasper wrote:

I'm just noticing a similiar problem with my Bella.

How old is Bella? Could it maybe be an age thing? I haven't really had a chance to hear about "older" dogs really. Seems most are in the puppy to 2 year range.

I had read on here recently that antlers can cause broken teeth...so maybe whoever had her before she showed up at the rescue gave her antlers without realizing what it was doing to her teeth?

Not sure how old they are yet, i tried asking the vet we got our shots from but i was only told their ypung our guess is that their about a year maybe a bit more. Yeah that replacement toy is the problem we have toy kong type toys and the get maybe a chew thats it. I think i'll keep an eye on her for now if i see it worsen then the bones gone, maybe try moose antlers i think someone has said there softer while still being a chew. Shes eating well and all so I'm not terribly worried. Well eating as much as the two will right now they dont to eat much lately.