Broken teeth are common problems we see in both our dog and cat patients. Since any degree of tooth loss can be problematic (even a small chip compromises the protective enamel coating on the tooth), we recommend an oral examination to evaluate all broken teeth. If the fracture is severe enough, a root canal treatment or tooth extraction will be recommended. By leaving the broken tooth untreated, it is causing your pet pain (even if he is stoic and doesn’t seem painful) and can lead to a severe infection.
Although you may have heard that chewing on bones can help clean your pet’s teeth, we do not recommend any type of bones for your pet (whether cooked, raw, beef, or bird). This is because the big hard bones can easily break teeth – and it’s usually the large, shearing molars in the back of the mouth – and smaller, brittle bones can get stuck or cause severe irritation when swallowed.
Here are some examples of what broken teeth look like.
