Awful breath and a broken tooth

• 04-08-2008 12:49 AM

  sweetbon Joined on 09-10-2007 Manitoba Canada Posts 161 Points 0

  Awful breath and a broken tooth Reply Contact   A couple of weeks ago Zoe broke a piece of a tooth.  Lately she also has been having amazingly awful breath. So bad that some of our company has commented on it when she was on their laps.  Every once in a while she gets a raw meaty bone to chew on, and her teeth look good.   I am wondering if the broken tooth could be a problem.  I'm not sure how she broke it, but I heard something drop out of her mouth onto our lamanite  flooring and when I looked here was a piece of tooth!   Today after her bath I looked in her mouth and noticed she has quite a large area on the bottom left side with NO teeth!.  When we had her spayed to vet said there was a baby tooth that never came out so they removed it, and there was no adult tooth that came in under it, but I didn't realize there was such a large area!  I don't know if this was in the same area where the broken tooth came from.  I am pretty sure it was more of the tip of the tooth as you couldn't see any hollow area like there was a root or anything[if that makes any sense]  Before I gave her her bath I gave her a raw beef soup bone and later[maybe 20 minutes] she had thrown up a bunch of the fatty stuff from it.  She has never done that before, so I don't know what that was about.  I took it away from her and didn't give it back.  Now I am wondering what I could give her to chew on, if she has so few teeth on that side, and has already broken a tooth. She is almost 5 yrs old and a shih tzu.   Any thoughts??

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• 04-08-2008 6:23 AM

  In reply to sweetbon

  mrv Joined on 09-10-2007 west central OH Posts 2,683 Points 745	Re: Awful breath and a broken tooth Reply Contact Get to a vet.... You have a number of things that should be checked out.
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• 04-08-2008 8:18 AM

  In reply to mrv

  jenns Joined on 09-10-2007 NE New Jersey Posts 1,045 Points 10	Re: Awful breath and a broken tooth Reply Contact Definitely take her to a vet.  My dog had an awful odor coming from her mouth and it turned out to be an infection.  She is now on a course of antibiotics and daily fluoride treatment. Zoe - 3 year old chocolate and tan miniature dachshund Zack - 10 month old toy manchester terrier Ally - 9 year old black and white domestic shorthair cat
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• 04-09-2008 2:20 AM

  In reply to jenns

  grab01 Joined on 09-10-2007 middle of the desert Posts 883 Points 0

  Re: Awful breath and a broken tooth Reply Contact I agree, have her checked by the vet. Bad breath can have many causes..from mouth infections to other much more serious health issues. Some tooth breaks can be painful, so that should be checked too, as well as the vomiting.  That aside, even dogs with missing teeth can enjoy recreational bones, especially if it's just the front incisors (the little wee teeth). They don't really tear/chew with those. I wouldn't give her any more until she's checked out by her vet though

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• 04-09-2008 2:30 PM

  In reply to sweetbon

  sweetbon Joined on 09-10-2007 Manitoba Canada Posts 161 Points 0	Re: Awful breath and a broken tooth Reply Contact  I've got an appointment for Zoe for Friday.  Its time for immunization etc anyways.  The area where there are missing teeth are not in the front but on the side on the bottom.  She will be getting her titering done too for heartworm since the season is almost here. Thanks!
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• 04-09-2008 9:18 PM

  In reply to sweetbon

  jennie_c_d Joined on 09-10-2007 Southeast Georgia Posts 8,696 Points 75	Re: Awful breath and a broken tooth Reply Contact  I would never vaccinate a sick dog. Zoe likely has some sort of infection going on (hence the smell), so she qualifies as "sick". Mischeif N Miracles, CGC, RE (PRT, 10/13/2003) Libby's Monkey N The Middle (Chinese Crested, 1/26/2008) Teenie Weenie at the Bridge (Dachshund, ???-12/28/2007)
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• 04-13-2008 1:23 AM

  In reply to jennie_c_d

  sweetbon Joined on 09-10-2007 Manitoba Canada Posts 161 Points 0

  Re: Awful breath and a broken tooth Reply Contact  just thought I'd update.  Zoe doesn't have an infection.  Just some tartar build up which I will try to get under control with the bones.  She doesn't need a dental yet.  Her gums are nice and pink and healthy. Fortunately she didn't have to get her rabies[I asked if it was possible to skip this year]since she is never outside without supervision, and rarely off the lease.   She got distemper and parvo shots.  Here, they don't titer every year for heartworm, but every other year, so she had that done last year.  I bought her Interceptor  like last year, as we live on the farm, no fleas, and she has virtually no contact from strange dogs.  When we move to town then we will change to something more suitable. So all is well, she is 15 lbs, in great body condition.

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• 04-13-2008 2:28 AM

  In reply to sweetbon

  willowchow Joined on 09-10-2007 Posts 6,319 Points 300	Re: Awful breath and a broken tooth Reply Contact Isn't rabies required by law?
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• 04-13-2008 5:38 PM

  In reply to willowchow

  Stacita Joined on 08-20-2006 Sacramento, CA Posts 1,575 Points 30	Re: Awful breath and a broken tooth Reply Contact Hopefully they are on a three year protocol. I don't vaccinate if sick and do the Rabies on different years than the other shots.
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• 04-13-2008 9:22 PM

  In reply to willowchow

  sweetbon Joined on 09-10-2007 Manitoba Canada Posts 161 Points 0	Re: Awful breath and a broken tooth Reply Contact   willowchow: Isn't rabies required by law?  It sounded like I could get away with it every 2 yrs living where I live, and in our particular case.  But, if we would take her out of country, say, into the US, then she would need it every year.  So, it wasn't a problem.
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• 04-22-2008 8:34 PM

  In reply to sweetbon

  BTmomma Joined on 12-07-2007 Groves, Texas Posts 825 Points 320

  Re: Awful breath and a broken tooth Reply Contact I would say take to the vet immediatly! Only experience I have with bad breath is Bailey cracked one of her puppy teeth (chewing on something, not sure what because i didn't know the tooth was cracked until the breath started to stink)... Anyways, her tooth was cracked and very loose... i went to the vet and they told me just to wait til the tooth falls out... it was a baby tooth and it turned a very very very dark gray and finally fell out... but her breath was AWFUL!!! She threw up a few times while this was going on, and i don't know if it was from pain, or maybe blood she was swallowing?? but the vomiting stopped once the tooth was gone and breath was fresh as can be now...

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