Teeth

Today Spencer finally had his doggie dental exam. The vet had suggested it a while ago, but I kept putting it off because, honestly, Spencer seemed fine. It just didn't seem necessary. He was chewing on his toys and dragging his bed around the house the same as always. Surely, if there was something wrong I would have noticed? All I noticed was his horrendous breath, and that was the main reason I had made the appointment.

I dropped him off this morning, and almost changed my mind when Spencer tried desperately to leave with me. Several hours later, the vet called to let me know that my little Spencer had to have 4 teeth pulled. I was sort of amazed that Spencer could spare so many, but told her to do what she needed to do. She called back when they were done, and gave me the full run-down. In the end she had to pull 5 teeth- 3 simple extractions, and 2 extensive. Apparently, two teeth had broken near the gum line, and the roots had to be fished out. A third had begun to abscess. Those were the simple extractions. The troublesome two were a pair next to each other that had not only abscessed, but developed a cyst that was slowly eating away at his tiny lower jaw bone.

The vet said there was a very real possibility that pulling the teeth near the weakened bone could have resulted in a fractured jaw, but Spencer lucked out. His little jaw held, and she was able to pull all the teeth. It was a good thing we didn't wait any longer, or Spencer might have had some big problems. All I've been able to think about since that conversation is how much pain he must have been in. How could he not show it at all? How could I not know?

So the moral of the story is: Don't ever forget that dogs hide pain very well. And always take your vet's advice. And don't wait until your dog is 8 years old to get his teeth looked at.

Spencer is home now, and still coming down off his meds. He won't be allowed to chew on anything for quite a while, and he has to eat soft food for two weeks. He'll also be on pain medication and antibiotics for a while. I plan on giving him lots of extra snuggles while I stay home and keep an eye on him over the next couple of days. I just hope he heals up quickly, and can forgive me for not having his teeth checked out sooner.