# 11 week old puppy has broken off a tooth. Should I be worried?



## ElvistheBT

My 11 week old Bull Terrier puppy is constantly biting at our pant legs , and, well everything else for that matter (I'll save that for another post!). But just this weekend I was not wearing my normal yoga type pants so when he took to the leg of my jeans as I was walking away, I just did my usual quick tug and I heard something hit the ground. Well, the top right canine was broken off, just under the gum. The gums were bleeding. Elvis, my puppy, didn't yelp, so I'm hoping he wasn't in pain. Then today he was mouthing something hard and he kind of whined and pawed at his mouth. Looks like another chunk fell out. He is going for his 12 week old needles in 5 days but my question is: should I be calling the vet first thing tomorrow? If he wants to remove should I seek a second opinion? I've read other posts on here but most of them were for dogs closer to when their adult teeth were close to coming in. I don't want to do any sort of procedure on him unless ABSOLUTELY necessary. 

Other details: there is no swelling, he seemed a bit more tired last night but maybe I'm paranoid. He is eating his food normal and is otherwise his crazy self. This is our first puppy so everything is new to us. I'm feeling really guilty and hoping I'm over reacting but also want to be fully informed. 

Thanks for any and all of your info!!!!


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## Willowy

He's losing his baby teeth. No worries .


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## ElvistheBT

Willowy said:


> He's losing his baby teeth. No worries .


Well, I literally broke it off with my quick tug...he's just 11 weeks. I know his adult tooth will grow in but worried about it being open to infection. There is still part of the tooth in the gum.


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## Willowy

Are you sure? Maybe that's the new tooth showing through and not a piece of the old tooth. 11 weeks is not out of the question for teething. If there really are some tooth fragments left behind, I'm sure the adult tooth coming in will push them out. Just keep an eye out for infection and call the vet if anything looks bad.


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## ElvistheBT

Willowy said:


> Are you sure? Maybe that's the new tooth showing through and not a piece of the old tooth. 11 weeks is not out of the question for teething. If there really are some tooth fragments left behind, I'm sure the adult tooth coming in will push them out. Just keep an eye out for infection and call the vet if anything looks bad.


Ya, I cracked it off, it's jagged . I spoke with the breeder though and she said not to worry as the adult tooth is behind it and although it may not grow in for another couple months it will basically protect the socket from infection (in theory). The baby teeth are pretty brittle anyways, it was hollow on the inside. I'm going to keep an eye out like you said, and get the vet to check it out. I'll post the updates on Friday. 

If anyone else had this same experience please feel free to post if you have more info or things I should be on the look out for.

Thanks!


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## stacey101

I thought they start to lose their teeth around 6months?
If its not bothering him and he is still eatting, just wait until he looses it.

On that note, bring on the puppy pictures!


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## Willowy

stacey101 said:


> I thought they start to lose their teeth around 6months?


In my experience, canines go around 3 1/2-4 months. And 11 weeks isn't too far off--some dogs will be early teethers, just like people. 

Glad to hear that the breeder doesn't think it's serious! Just keep an eye on him, I guess.


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## JackOwner

So I am interested in knowing the end result. Our 12 week old puppy broke his tooth in the exact same way. The vet wants to remove the leftover so it doesn't get infected costing $300. We are inclined to just let it go and see if it comes out on it's own soon.


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## ElvistheBT

JackOwner said:


> So I am interested in knowing the end result. Our 12 week old puppy broke his tooth in the exact same way. The vet wants to remove the leftover so it doesn't get infected costing $300. We are inclined to just let it go and see if it comes out on it's own soon.


Hi, 
Yes, I certainly don't miss the puppy stage. So this was about 1.5 years ago now and happy to report that the adult tooth grew in normal, there was no infection, nothing at all to note. We did keep an eye on it but the new tooth came in about 1-2 months later. Our vet *did* suggest extracting it, but it's almost implicit that they recommend the "best" treatment, although not necessary. Plus, I would assume that would require sedation and we weren't putting him through that. Glad we saved the money. I'm sure it was better spent on training for the little bugger! haha
So, hope that helps with your decision. Again, no ill effects and he has a perfect bite.


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## 3doglady

Glad it worked out (18 months ago). My lab broke her tooth at 11 weeks old also (6 years ago). We did opt to extract the tooth.


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