Pet anxiety - Lost tooth

I have already talked to my vet and an emergency vet before anyone askes.

My dachshund is getting up there in years. He is 9 years old currently. He goes to the vet for yearly checkups or whenever I have concerns.

Friday he lost a tooth and that has sent me into a spiral. I opened his mouth to look and there is definite gum recession and other loose teeth. I called my vet immediately and they weren't overly concerned because of his age. They said they could try and get me in earlier, but probably best to talk about it at my yearly. I called the emergency vet and they told me this gum recession and losing teeth is common with older pets and told me just to make an appointment with my regular vet.

I've asked about his teeth at every vet visit. I've given him treats to clean teeth. I've attempted to brush his teeth over the course of the last 9 years. I'm just super worried that its alot worse than everyone is making it out to be.

I talked to a few friends who have elderly dogs and 3 of them have toothless dogs.

I'm going to do everything the vet tells me to and try and get him in before his appointment. He has zero discomfort and is eating normally.

Am I overreacting for something that is common?

It is very common. My dog is 11, she only has dry food and water plus the odd dry treat and a daily dentastick. She is rather partial to just about anything that she finds in the street too.

The year before last my husband took her for her annual check and mentioned she had bad breath, so the vet said we'll clean her teeth (which meant putting her under anaesthetic). She left the vets minus 9 teeth. Dogs get a lot of tartar and whether you clean their teeth or not it still builds up.

I guess when they ran wild they would have been chewing on bones and all sorts so their teeth will have snapped/come out regularly. It's seriously nothing to worry about and you aren't responsible in any way.

I have a puppy and she's losing her baby teeth left and right now. We have a 10yo Pixie Bob and he's due for a check-up and dental cleaning. I expect he'll start to lose a tooth here and there in the next few years. Yes, you're over-reacting to normal aging in doggies. Just take her to the vet, get the dental work done and she'll be fine.

Positive thoughts

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Originally Posted by Catkins

It is very common. My dog is 11, she only has dry food and water plus the odd dry treat and a daily dentastick. She is rather partial to just about anything that she finds in the street too.

The year before last my husband took her for her annual check and mentioned she had bad breath, so the vet said we'll clean her teeth (which meant putting her under anaesthetic). She left the vets minus 9 teeth. Dogs get a lot of tartar and whether you clean their teeth or not it still builds up.

I guess when they ran wild they would have been chewing on bones and all sorts so their teeth will have snapped/come out regularly. It's seriously nothing to worry about and you aren't responsible in any way.

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9 teeth extracted? I’m thinking I’ll be looking at a similar situation. If you don’t mind me asking, what was the cost of that?

I appreciate you both answering. Most of my friends said they let the teeth fall out naturally. I don’t think I’ll be letting that happen. I hated loose teeth as a kid. I’ll get them extracted.

It’s crazy though. There were no signs. Never a concern from the vet. But if it’s a normal thing… I guess that’s why the vet was never concerned.

I can't remember exactly what it cost, it might have been about £200 - that's a guess as my husband paid for it.

The previous year the vet never mentioned anything and he probably wouldn't have mentioned it that time except my husband mentioned her breath. Our dog showed no signs of having toothache either, ate normally, never yelped. It's just one of those things.

Crazy how fast it happens though. My dog was probably predisposed... He never really ate much because he liked playing so much. He didn't like bully sticks or chews much.

I made the mistake of googling the situation instead of thinking logically and I think that's why I freaked out. I'm seeing things like "jaw fractures", even though I have numerous people telling me its normal. Learned that from my bad HA days.

My dog is 14 and all his teeth are ground down. He has to use his back ones to chew anything these days. Our vet has never raised a concern over this. We've even seen a specialist due to his eye problems and me she gave him a general check over and we did mention how are had affected him but she said he was very healthy other than his eyes (known age problem in his breed).

If dogs are eating, going the toilet and generally happy everything is ok.

I think it's a typical trigger situation. You are doing the right things with your vet. They see this all the time so if they aren't concerned it just be ok. But loved ones are always a possible trigger for those with anxiety so you just need to self talk and accept you are doing the best for them.

Spend some happy time with your dog so you feel better because he's happy. Change it from worry to feeling good about him being happy.

I agree. Very triggering. Especially feels defeating because I did everything I could to keep the teeth as clean as I could. But as I said, two coworkers and my best friends have dogs that are old and missing teeth.

Another thing is that I’m just coming to terms with him getting old. But he’s definitely getting a ton of love. Both of my dogs are exceptionally spoiled.

It's normal - and the anxiety is normal too.

My dog is only 7 but a few years ago he broke his bottom canine and the tooth next to it. They couldn't pull the canine without the chance of a broken jaw because he was young and the root was strong, so $1400 later and he had a root canal and the tooth sealed.

My cat is like 12ish years old and everything was totally normal until last year he was drooling one day. I was terrified - he doesn't eat plants but I was just sure he got into poison or ate one of my plants and was sick. I went into the weekend vet and shelled out a bunch of money for bloodwork to be told that he had a few bad teeth and needed extractions. I'm not sure how many they pulled, maybe 5?

It's definitely scary but it happens when they get older. Removing them will be easy and your pup will be back to normal soon.