Our lab broke a lower canine about 2 years ago. She lunged for a ball that our son was batting! It was all very upsetting! The tooth bled a little and had a red spot in the middle for quite a while. Our vet told us that he suggested leaving it alone and just watching to see what happened. He said that some dogs can break a tooth and never have a problem with it, and others do. He told me to check her gum line around once a month or so to look for changes (swelling, receding, etc) If there is any changes, he suggested pulling it at that time. He also told me that a healthy canine is extremely difficult to extract because the roots actually extend into their jaw under the molars. He said that if her tooth rotted it would come out much, much easier since the tooth would begin to loosen on it's own. We keep a pretty close eye on it, and nothing has changed except the dot that was once red in the middle is now black. It doesn't seem to bother her at all, but I know that dogs won't let on to pain. She does, however, have no problem eating rawhides, or whatever else she wants. I don't know about a price, that seems high to me too, but maybe we'll end up paying that amount too someday!
