Kya's Teeth - Attention Alisa!!! Or others... ;)

So, when we got Kya, we were assured she was 10 months old. We even got her papers after we spayed her and it stated her birthdate was May 9, 2007. The vet said no way (she only got a quick look), there was no possible way she was under a year. She used to be terrified of the camera so I didn't want to take any photos but now, she's a little less so (especially if mom is there), so we got some photos this weekend. Is it even in the realm of possibility that she's only a year old??

Midas - April 23, 2005 (birthdate)


Mason - February 25, 2007 (closest to Kya in age)


Kya - May 9, 2007


She has broken teeth


Is it possible to have that much buildup from neglect?? Or is she older
than we were told/thought? Not that it matters but I'm just really,
really curious. (Alisa, I figured being a vet and all you would have a guess as well ), thanks in advance!!!

I am not a vet, but I am a dentist . This is my point of view. I am sure Alisa will chime in when she get a chance.

As for the build-up, brushing and other dentally related toys (bones, Nylabones, Kongs, tugs) help to minimize the amount of calculus. Calculus forms fast, so it is plausible that if her teeth were neglected, she could have that much build-up.

Now on the broken teeth. To me, it looks like she has a "crooked bite." When you look at the tooth on the bottom jaw in front of her canine, it looks like it is angled back towards the canine. It looks like it would have hit the canine when closing her teeth, causing wear and breakage. Same for the tooth on top in front of the canine.

My dog Mocha has some crooked teeth, and they have caused wear on her opposing teeth.

Hope this helps! I would just keep an eye on them and make sure she is not in pain with any of the broken teeth. And, if you can, a dental cleaning would really benefit her. Then, you would be able to keep her teeth cleaner.

I'm not a vet, but I'll stick my nose where it doesn't belong anyway Poor nutrition, a low quality kibble that really sticks to the teeth, and probably all sorts things I'm not thinking of, can have a significant impact on dental health. And ultimately, genetics plays a big part. Some animals just inherit bad teeth. That is however, a remarkable amount of a build up for an dog that supposedly hasn't had her big girl teeth for more than, what, six months?

When I adopted my second cat from a rescue, the vet said he was over a year old because of his teeth ... um, he double in size within the following six months and he grew into his paws, ears and tail. I don't think cats older than a year grow quite like that ...

Depending on what your vet said, you might want to have Kya's teeth cleaned, then start brushing. If she is only a year old and her teeth are that bad, brushing is going to be really important. You can also use your thumbnail to scrape off the plaque before it hardens. Once the broken ones are taken care of, if the vet deems her teeth strong enough, you might consider marrow or knuckle bones for her to chew on.

Just my two cents, I'm sure there will be a lot of opinions on this.

I'm going to second what Laura has already said. It is possible that she is only a couple years old or so... with that much plaque and damage, especially considering the misalligned incisor(s) as is evident in the first pic of her bite. I've seen other young rescues with teeth as bad or slightly worse, unfortunately. As Lindsey stated, brushing is going to be very important with Kya. You'll need to try to brush every day, if at all possible. Especially considering the fact that she already has cracked some of her teeth, plaque and even worse problems are going to form far more quickly than they would in a dog who has had more attention to their oral health from the beginning. As for the broken teeth themselves, you have a few options... clean them professionally and/or yourself regularly, closely monitor them and hope they do not become a problem or discomfort for her; have them capped; or have them extracted. Considering the expense, as long as they are not a problem for her, I would probably go with a professional dental cleaning, followed by routine maintainance brushing.

My first question is what do the 'cheek teeth' look like? The molars and pre-molars are far more important in the grand scheme of things than the canines and incisors, both health-wise and telling age-wise, for me. That said, going by these front teeth, I agree that her bite isn't the best, she has decent tartar for a dog who is supposedly only a year old, and her teeth look slightly worn. My first suspicion is that she is older than we think, BUT genetics does play a huge role, in addition to diet, etc. Also, certain viruses and drugs can affect teeth in young dogs. They can discolor them or make them weak, leading to bad teeth at a young age.

The bottom line is that tooth eruption is a good estimator of age, but tooth wear and tear is always just a guess.

With no other info, I'd probably guess this dog at anywhere from 1-3ish? I'd lean toward the 3ish...but the premolars that I see look quite nice, so...it's a tough call. That bite will create dental disease in the front teeth, so they're a little skewed in what they show us.

jedivet wrote:My first question is what do the 'cheek teeth' look like? The molars and pre-molars are far more important in the grand scheme of things than the canines and incisors, both health-wise and telling age-wise, for me. That said, going by these front teeth, I agree that her bite isn't the best, she has decent tartar for a dog who is supposedly only a year old, and her teeth look slightly worn. My first suspicion is that she is older than we think, BUT genetics does play a huge role, in addition to diet, etc. Also, certain viruses and drugs can affect teeth in young dogs. They can discolor them or make them weak, leading to bad teeth at a young age.

The bottom line is that tooth eruption is a good estimator of age, but tooth wear and tear is always just a guess.

With no other info, I'd probably guess this dog at anywhere from 1-3ish? I'd lean toward the 3ish...but the premolars that I see look quite nice, so...it's a tough call. That bite will create dental disease in the front teeth, so they're a little skewed in what they show us.

I agree. I think everyone pretty much covered the major points here , but I'd be a little suspicious of the 10 month guess-timate.

mavrick is 8 months so not to far behind kyas supposed age and his teeth are no were near what hers are. now granted mavricks been a pretty pamperd pup his whole life and has always had a good diet so its kinda comparing apples and oranges. but duchess who is 3 had teeth very much like kyas when we picked her upfrom the shelter in october