dog tooth split in half and fell off

my dog’s molar split in half and fell off when he was biting a toy. What do I do? How can I preserve the tooth until we arrive at the vet?

Hello! Is that a permanent tooth?  Most vets would not try to put a permanent tooth back in.  After all there is a reason that it fell out.  Most would rather remove the root and possibly the other half of the tooth to prevent further disease and allow it to heal - as long as the mouth is comfortable.  Dogs are much less likely to be concerned about the cosmetic effects than people but time and energy should go into preventing any similar problems with the other teeth.   Your vet should help to work out why it fell out and help you to prevent it from happening again in the future. However, it's worth asking in case you have a specialist dentist who'd like to try to preserve it - I've never heard of this but if there was, they would definitely want to instruct you themselves about that half a tooth. Meanwhile, if it is a deciduous tooth, it may be that the other half falls out in time - but always have the responsible vet check that they're happy. Best of luck

i forgot to mention, but he’s 4 months turning 5. He’s pretty large for his age as well. I think that the split molar is a baby tooth. Is it still bad? or is it fine and it’ll regrow.

Hi Liz, no it isn’t a permanent tooth. Thank you for the info, I already made an appointment for the vet :)

Oh good!  So, it's actually about the right age for baby teeth to fall out, so I don't think you need to worry about putting it back in.  Your vet will likely check that the other half is coming away as expected when they see you.  Sometimes there is nothing beneath pushing them out and they need a bit of assistance, especially if they have snapped.  A retained tooth can influence the one that wants to come up beneath it.  Best of luck and please do let us know how the story ends!

Ah - maybe you were asking how to preserve it so that you could show it to the vet, rather than to put back in?  Teeth are actually really hard-wearing - I still have my baby teeth in a pretty good state at home!    I find that just putting it in a small box for safe keeping will be fine.  All the best!

Thank you!