[Ziggy-Zoo]

👋 all! I've been a lurker on this site since I signed up to get a Spoo. Ziggy (in my eyes) is pretty much the cutest doggo walking the streets of New York these days. It wouldn't be hyperbole to say she's opened up my world, and I love her to the moon and back. I got her at eight weeks, and we're now going into her sixteenth week together!

I wanted to hop on here to ask about this weird, very discolored tooth that has been growing between her top right canine and incisors (I've attached a couple of pics of what it looks like). When she had her deciduous teeth, she had a complete set of six incisors, her canine, and this weird tiny yellow nub of a tooth. I asked Ziggy's vet about it, and vet's opted for a wait and watch approach hoping that the tooth will fall out on its own. That doesn't look likely to happen, and I'm worried Ziggy's in pain because the tooth looks infected.

Any thoughts on what this could be and if I should be worried this is causing Ziggy pain? I'm concerned to see such an abnormal and discolored tooth growing full and strong in such a young pup.

 

[lily cd re]

Cute pup there Ziggy!

That certainly isn't normal and although it may eventually fall out on its own I would get a good dental vet to look at things. It is a bit hard to tell but I would be concerned it will push other adult teeth off good alignment. And here is just one more thing for you to ignore if you wish, but even if you like a fluffy face I would take your pup to get a good couple of grooms asap so that Ziggy gets a chance to understand what grooming is like. You may decide you want a different style of clip or need for a short clip for medical reasons. All of that will go much more smoothly if the dog is used to grooming. Grooming is a part of being a poodle.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

Welcome! It's nice to meet you and Ziggy.

I'm sure you've googled it to death, but that definitely looks like a dying tooth. If so, I imagine it will eventually turn grey as the nerves die.

Maybe she injured it on a toy or chew or even on another puppy's tooth during play. Does she show any signs at all that it's sensitive? When was her last check-up?

 

[Ziggy-Zoo]

Thanks so much, @lily cd re and @PeggyTheParti ! So great to meet you 😊

Ufff, a dying tooth! The tooth was yellow from the get-go. It grew from a tiny little yellow nub into the tooth shown in the pictures posted above. It's possible the root was injured somehow when she was playing. She hasn't shown signs of particular sensitivity. Last vet check-up was about a week ago when she got her rabies vaccine.

The suggestion to seek out a dental vet is a good one, so I'll get on it!

She's also got her first grooming appointment coming up mostly to get all that fur out her eyes (but also, as you say, to get her used to the grooming process).

I'll keep you updated. Thanks for the help!

 

[Michigan Gal]

If Ziggy was sick while the tooth was forming, that can cause discoloration. It doesn't look nice, but it may be perfectly normal. Trip to vet dentist.

 

[Newport]

Time for a vet dentist.

Totally cute puppy. Thanks for sharing all the photos.

 

[Ziggy-Zoo]

Thanks, @Michigan Gal and @Newport ! Yes, it seems a trip to the vet dentist will clear this up. I'll keep you updated

 

[Oonapup]

Agree with the vet dentist rec, glad you are going to get it checked out. Is this an adult tooth coming in? Oona had a narrow lower canine that instead of resting outside her upper gum, made a hole in her upper palate. The dental vet told me after her detoothing that the errant tooth had punctured the protective sac that encloses the adult tooth in her upper palate, and that it might damage the enamel or cause problems. That tooth was the first to start to erupt, and is now coming in with a brownish discoloration a little like this (though parts of it are white). Her vet today said it looked fine/solid and it might be enamel damage like the dental vet warned could happen from the "injury" it sustained from her baby tooth poking up. This looks like the same tooth (though I can't be sure, I don't know with certainty what teeth dogs and puppies have) so I wonder if it could be a similar injury.

 

[Ziggy-Zoo]

That's super helpful, @Oonaapup ! It seems like an adult tooth because it is quite solid and keeps growing. It was also the first to grow of her adult teeth. I'm guessing what happened with Oona's tooth is what happened with Ziggy's!

 

[Oonapup]

That's super helpful, @Oonaapup ! It seems like an adult tooth because it is quite solid and keeps growing. It was also the first to grow of her adult teeth. I'm guessing what happened with Oona's tooth is what happened with Ziggy's!

This is what I suspect happened, the dental vet hasn't confirmed. But at our 16 week booster appointment today the vet noticed it and said it didn't look like decay and thought my hypothesis based on the dental vet's warning was plausible. Still worth having it checked. Oona's first looked brown all the way except the tip, then as more of it came in it started to look better. They did clean a lot of dirt and crap out of the hole in her palate after the surgery for tooth removal, so it could be staining from that. Did Ziggy have narrow base canines, that you noticed? You can look it up on here, there are several threads. She is a cutie in any case!

 

[Ziggy-Zoo]

@Oonapup , I missed this message! Hmm, good question. I've looked up narrow base canines, and it is possible that the canine under Ziggy's wonky tooth is poking into her upper pallet, but it doesn't seem to be long enough to have caused damage (baby tooth). I spoke to the dental vet about an appointment, and she suggested I come in for an evaluation of Ziggy's teeth at the six month mark unless there is abnormal bleeding, swelling, or discharge. Sounds like it's a wait and watch thing still! The tooth doesn't seem sore, so hopefully it is just an enamel issue.