Ask the French Bulldog Vet - Surgery for Baby Puppy Teeth?
admin July 20th, 2008
I just took my 5 month-old French Bulldog male Wilbur to the vet to get his last set of shots and for a routine checkup. The vet was very concerned that Wilbur still had 3 of his K9 baby teeth while his adult teeth were almost completely grown in. I haven’t been concerned up until now because I assumed they would just fall out on their own. A few days ago he had all 4 baby K9 teeth, but lost one on his own.
The vet said that it is imperative that we schedule a surgery to remove the baby teeth before they cause gum disease. He said that I will need to leave Wilbur for the entire day and they will put him under anesthesia. I am very hesitant to put my baby under for something as minor as pulling baby teeth, especially because I know how dangerous it can be for short-nosed breeds. Do you think that the baby teeth need to come out immediately and warrart anesthesia?
Are there any other options besides anesthesia? I don’t want to risk his life for something so small!’
Dr. Lori writes -
Retained baby teeth can affect the bite of an adult frenchie by not allowing the adult teeth to come to the appropriate spaces. This can sometimes result in teeth hitting the roof of the mouth, etc. However, that being said, I am hesitant to anesthetize him for JUST that. If he is 5 months old, I suspect he is coming to the age of neutering, which is when I usually recommend to my clients that we remove any retained puppy teeth, since they will already be under anesthetic.
As for other options, there really aren’t any… other than wiggling those teeth every chance you get and see if you can work them out on their own.
Lori Hunt, DVM
