Missing teeth

My chihuahua is only about a year and a half old. I noticed she doesn’t seem to have but two of her front incisors! She still eats hard food, and the area doesn’t seem painful. She did struggle to lose her baby canines, the adult teeth grew in and the baby teeth took a month or two to fall out. Is this something to worry about, or do some dogs simply just not get their teeth in?  

Good Morning!  Every shape or size of dog is predisposed to some particular struggle and chihuahuas experience dental issues more than some other breeds. One would expect all dogs to have the same number of teeth, but as chihuahuas have been bred over the years to make these beautiful miniature muzzles,  it can sometimes be a struggle to fit all the teeth in.  Therefore, teeth growing at interesting higgledy angles, too close together to come up or with only a small amount of gum to hold them in, is not uncommon and the teeth may have fallen out already. Alternatively they may never have risen - it may be possible for your vet to perform dental radiography to tell you which, although the value of this depends on whether they would intervene in any way having found out.  It is however important to keep the mouth clean and comfortable and to look after the remaining teeth.  Many practise nurses and vets do low-cost dental checks during which they can give you the best advice.