Retained Deciduous Teeth (Baby Teeth): Why Does My Dog Look Like a Shark?

“Something’s wrong with his teeth,” she shared. Lucky’s crowded mouth confirmed her concern—retained baby teeth jostled for space with emerging adult ones.

Petting Lucky’s soft head, I offered reassurance. “Common in small breeds,” I explained, “but we can treat it.” The words comforted her, even as Lucky, oblivious to our serious conversation, thumped his tail in contentment.

I laid out our strategy—extractions, pain management, and home care—and as I did, her anxiety lessened. Lucky, still cheerful, trusted us to make things right, and we would.  Taking care of his overcrowded mouth at this tender age would prevent serious problems down the road, and with proper care, allow for healthy gums and teeth for the rest of his life.

A retained deciduous (baby) tooth is one that is still present when the adult teeth have erupted.

Shedding and Retention

Just like humans, cats and dogs have two sets of teeth—baby teeth and adult teeth.  The deciduous teeth are meant to be fully shed when the adult teeth erupt to take their place.  Unfortunately, due to a number of factors including genetics, some animals fail to shed some of their deciduous teeth, resulting in retained teeth.

Usually, all of the deciduous teeth have been shed by the age of 6-7 months in all breeds of dogs and cats.  Thus if deciduous teeth remain past about 7 months they are considered to be retained.

Most commonly, retained deciduous teeth are seen in small breed dogs such as Miniature Dachshunds, Yorkshire Terriers, and Pomeranians.  They are occasionally seen in larger breed dogs and rarely in cats.

Complications with Retention

When teeth that are meant to shed remain in place, they tend to cause problems in the mouth, where there is very limited space, particularly when an adult tooth is meant to grow into that very same space. Sometimes people joke that their little dogs “look like a shark” because they have so many teeth, and it can be true—they can have multiple retained incisors as well as retained canines, sadly all of which can cause problems.

These are some of the problems that can occur in the area of the mouth where a deciduous tooth remains:

• When the adult tooth erupts in an abnormal position because of the presence of the deciduous tooth, it can result in a malocclusion, which can require intervention.
• The upper canine teeth can erupt and tilt too far forward, becoming malpositioned, called a mesioversion.
• The lower canine can erupt inside of the retained canines (toward the center of the mouth), impinging on the soft tissues of the hard palate, causing pain.  This is called linguoversion.
• Because all permanent incisors (front teeth) erupt lingual (toward the tongue) to the deciduous teeth, retained baby teeth can cause a crossbite, which can sometimes cause problems.
• Periodontal disease develops over time.

Periodontal Disease: A Major Concern

The biggest problem regarding retained deciduous teeth that we usually see in general practice is periodontal disease. Incredibly, we often see periodontal disease setting in by the age of 9-12 months in small dogs with retained canine teeth. The accumulation of debris and plaque due to crowding of the retained baby teeth and the adult canine teeth results in extremely rapid development of periodontal disease. It’s tragic for many reasons, among which is that the periodontal disease can spread to the surrounding teeth, which then can become affected, lose surrounding bone, and eventually need to be extracted.

In simpler terms, retained baby teeth cause periodontal disease, which can lead to the disease and eventual loss of your dog’s beautiful permanent teeth!

Identifying Retained Teeth

Distinguishing between permanent and deciduous canine teeth is usually easy. Deciduous canine teeth are very sharp and curved. Permanent or adult canine teeth are duller and straighter and not very sharp. The adult canines erupt in front of the deciduous teeth, nearer to the pet’s nose.

Assessing the teeth is possible if the pet is compliant, but is not easy in wiggly puppies and kittens. However, it is easy to do at the time of spay or neuter, when the pet is anesthetized for surgery. Ideally, pets can be evaluated for possible retained deciduous teeth at the time of spay or neuter, and if there is any question, oral radiographs (x-rays) can be taken to distinguish between a permanent or deciduous tooth. It is a great idea to have a conversation with your veterinarian about this before scheduling your pets’ spay or neuter.

Treating Retained Deciduous Teeth

The treatment for retained deciduous teeth is extraction. This is often planned at the time of other procedures for cost effectiveness and convenience, and is encouraged at the time of spay or neuter, particularly as it is recommended to be done when the pet is young, when retained teeth are newly diagnosed.

Pain management for extractions should be local, regional, and systemic. This means your veterinarian should provide injectable pain control and local pain control, and send you home with pain control medication(s) to give to your pet, or administer long-term injectable pain control medication to your pet before they leave the hospital.

If your pet had sutures, they will be absorbable and should resorb within a few weeks.

For young pets with retained deciduous teeth that have them extracted promptly upon being diagnosed, the prognosis is excellent. With good dental home care, and routine veterinary dental cleaning, your pet should do great! How to

Brush your Dog’s Teeth 

Here are a few tips and good products for starting an excellent dental home care routine.

These dental wipes fit on your finger and are a good, gentle way to getting your pet used to having their teeth touched. Try to practice every day. Start by touching one tooth, and giving a treat. Then start gently scrubbing after a few days. Watch some Youtube videos–there are some great ones available. These wipes have a little texture, so will remove plaque. They will be even more effective with a little enzymatic toothpaste on them.

Dogs and cats usually love the flavor of this toothpaste.

This toothbrush kit has smaller brushes that can fit in a variety of dog mouths. See the PHH article on How To Start Brushing My Dog’s Teeth. You may want to start with the finger brush to teach your dog to open his mouth and touch their teeth, one at a time, using lots of treats. (Or try starting with wipes, as mentioned above.) Of course large dogs can have larger brushes. You may find the long-handled brushes available in pet stores and online are helpful and worth a try; I prefer shorter-handled brushes when available.

Many dogs love these tasty chews which can help keep their teeth a lot cleaner when used several times a week.

Retained Deciduous Teeth in Older Pets

Older pets that have had retained deciduous teeth for years will still need to have them extracted. Your veterinarian will likely also radiograph (x-ray) and assess, clean, and polish each tooth, probe the gingiva and measure pockets, evaluate for periodontal disease, give local pain blocks, administer antibiotics if indicated, and dispense pain control.

For older pets with periodontal disease, removing the deciduous teeth, having professional periodontal treatment on a routine schedule (this could mean up to 2-3 times a year—think of your own dental schedule), and implementing a good home care routine, your pet’s dental health should improve over time.

Pets who have had multiple extractions usually heal better if they have an oral rinse twice daily, yet veterinarians rarely send one home. This one has dilute chlorhexidine which is great. It also works well to help treat periodontal disease.

Another promising chew treat is this honeycomb shaped chew. It “flosses” the teeth as the dog chews and helps remove calculus. This can be especially helpful for dogs with crowded teeth.

Retained deciduous teeth must be extracted for your dog’s gums and teeth to stay healthy. Following your veterinarian’s recommendations for excellent dental home care, and scheduling routine professional cleaning will help give your pet the best possible outcome for their best dental health.