[blackjack]

Our oldest beagle - Blaze - has always loved to chew on hard things. The breeder even sent home a cow hoof with ust. As a result she damaged a couple back teeth and had a couple root canals a few years ago. Last year the vet suggested getting her looked at again, but the funds were just not there for anything major. We were back at the vet yesterday and the vet had concerns about one of the teeth that had had the root canal and had the dental vet look at her. In her opinion something is going on with the tooth, either the root canal is failing, or there is an abcess or I believe she said tumor. Long story short, the estimate is $900 to just find out what the problem is. Money is still the issue for us. I spoke with a co-worker who raises and shows Chessies - turns out she used to be a vet tech. She said to just pull the tooth. Her opinion of the vets in our area is that they look for things that need doing. I must admit the dental vet was very eager to have me set the appointment yesterday, even though I explained that I would have to talk to my husband first. I am going to call back to the vet today to get an estimate to just pull the tooth.

I know she can function perfectly well with one less tooth. I feel bad that is comes down to a question of dollars but on the other hand is it really necessary to spend that much to maybe fix a tooth?

 

[HersheyK's Dad]

My Hershey Kisses is missing 8 teeth, including all 6 upper incisors. Its a long story as to why this happened, but the result is: She does not know she doesn't have all her teeth.

 

[Piper77]

Piper just had a broken (albeit still healthy) tooth pulled last week. It was considerably less expensive than a root canal and the vet assured me she would be fine without it.

 

[BigBrownDog]

I surely would not be doing a root canal on my dog. That seems a little nutty to me.

 

[Canyon Labradors]

I'd pull a tooth over a root canal too. Has nothing to do with whether I can or can't afford it, but more of the dog isn't going to miss the tooth, so why spend the money?

 

[blackjack]

It turns out I misunderstood the issue. It's not the tooth itself, there is a growth of some kind on the gum near that tooth. They aren't sure what is causing it so we are going to keep an eye on it for now.

 

[Canyon Labradors]

Good luck with that. Hudler has a little growth on the inside of his mouth by his lower right canine, on the inner side of the tooth that we are watching.

 

[Pam]

teeth

my lab had to get his two canines shaved in half and root canaled years ago cause they were too long and poked homes in the roof of his mouth.
Those teeth hold his tongue in his mouth so I went and did the work. If it had been in the back, I definitely would have pulled.