Tooth Abscess

Hi, We have a 4 yr old small mixed breed? During normal check up the vet said he had a tooth abscess and prescribed antibiotic & pain meds. There were / are no symptoms at all. On follow up visit vet said the abscess was still there and said only option was to extract 2 back teeth. We are going to get another opinion from a dental specialist but wanted to see if there are other options. Just confused because the dog is young and we have brushed his teeth from when he was a puppy. Of course we haven't brushed his teeth since the abscess diagnosis for fear of making it worse. Thank you in advance for any advice.

Hello and thank you for this interesting question.  Of course you'll know that I am in no position to confirm or deny what your vet has said without looking in the mouth, which I am unable to do.   However, at best there are some gaps in communication here; it seems that your vet is either unaware that you want further explanation, or their explanation is inadequate for your needs.   Questions that might help include, how do they know that there is an abscess?  They may be able to tell you, draw it for you or even - some vets - show you an x-ray.  A good follow-up question is; what will happen if we treat this?  And What will happen if we do nothing?   Having a second opinion from a vet with an interest in dentistry is a good idea.

Dogs, like us, have two sets of teeth and sometimes dental problems arise from the way that the teeth erupt into the mouth.  If they do not grow straight, for example, they can cause secondary problems and these frequently merit removal.  I hope that the dentist who can see the teeth is able to give you the second opinion and explanation that you seek.

Thank you Liz for the straight forward answers. Will report back after seeing dental specialist. Unfortunately here in the USA with "most" vets it's all about money and not the love for animals. One dental specialist we called quoted the cost to remove 2 teeth was $4,000 to $6,000 USD !! What a shame it has to be all about making huge profits on working class people whose animals are like their children......

I work in pounds sterling so I will look up how much money that is later.  However, I know that you pay for medical care in most places that use US dollars so I wonder what a human dental specialist there would charge to do comparable work.  In my opinion there should be 'best' options (often involving specialists) and maybe 'good enough' options available.  A good specialist should understand that money is not unlimited and make recommendations based on necessity and comfort for the pet.  There are ongoing debates in the UK at the moment that perhaps animal medical care has become so good / technical that pet owners are repeatedly priced out of the market.  Pet ownership may have declined at certain times for this reason.  Companies here have bought out vet practices which has over time increased prices.  I have no answers to this complex problem.  However, regarding your current dilemma there have been a few blogs about talking about money on Vet Help Direct including this one, which I will link separately.  

https://vethelpdirect.com/vetblog/2023/12/13/how-do-i-talk-to-my-vet-about-money/

Hi Liz, Finally was able to get an appointment with dental specialist for next week. My wife just informed me our regular vet told her the 2 back teeth with abscess's are one on each side of mouth (I thought they were next to each other on same side). Does that sound logical to you? I'm looking at what are chances a human would have 2 abscess's on opposite sides of mouth. As I mentioned in original post and frustrating is we have brushed the dogs teeth from when he was a puppy. In the meantime I was searching the internet and saw products to help dogs with gum disease, plaque, etc. These products had flavanoids, spirulina, oregano, etc. I know most of these internet ads are gimmicks but some had scientific studies. Have you had any experience with dental products that could work as a preventive measure once we get our dogs dental issue taken care of? Thank you again for the help you provide on this forum.

Thank you for clarifying this.  Mouths are - typically - symmetrical, like the rest of the face.   If an abscess has occured in a young dog on one side of the face, then unless there has been an injury, foreign body or similar affecting one side only, or unless there is an asymmetry eg the teeth grow at an angle on one side but not the other / the dog chews sticks on one side of the face but not the other, then it seems perfectly reasonable to me that a problem would have occurred in the same place on both sides.   Some dog breeds are associated with developmental mouth problems and these are often small dogs, where the normal number of teeth are growing in a smaller jaw than they originally evolved to fit.   It is not unheard of for teeth to grow out of alignment (on one or both sides); to push into soft tissue causing ulcers or abscesses, for example, or for teeth to form incorrectly or baby teeth to fall out leaving a root behind which then causes an abscess.  None of these examples would be your fault.  There are typical developmental mouth problems associated with specific pedigree breeds - chihuahuas, for example -  but with mixed breeds this may be a little more difficult to predict.  Given that your dog is only young, diet-related disease may be much less likely than mouth-shape-related developmental disease (to do with how the teeth grow in the mouth).  Early attention is recommended in those cases.   As well as the questions to properly understand what is going on, my advice would be to ask  Which treatment option provides the sweet spot between safety, a comfortable mouth and affordability?  Dogs rarely worry about what they teeth look like, but they need them to be comfortable.   Finally, I hear you worrying that you are to blame, but if this is developmental and linked to mouth shape, then the 'blame' would rest with likely generations of breeding resulting in a mouth-shape that is causing problems for your pet.  Like the other ideas, your vet would have to confirm whether or not this is what is happening.  I hope that something there helps.

Thanks again for the quick reply & great detailed information. This dental specialist was pushing us to have everything done at the upcoming scheduled visit, tooth extractions, etc. for $4,000 to $6,000 USD which is = to around $4,500 GBP. Without even seeing the dog yet! They finally agreed on just a consultation visit. Wanted to add one other thing, we feed our two dogs home prepared food, cooked organic chicken & beef with mixed vegetables for dinner and Science Diet dry food in mornings.  Also add a canine probiotic / vitamin to their dinner. So think we can rule the diet out?

You have more appropriate people than me looking after this case; if it is developmental, your vet may already have told the dentist what they can see - it occurs to me that there may be a time limit for getting this work done because your dogs mouth is growing all the time.  Please therefore check and ask 'why' a lot - will you let us know how you get on?

Most problems in dogs so young are caused by mouth trauma or shape / development rather than diet.  However there are exceptions and further to this,  vets will correct diet as an easy fix to make eating more comfortable, to maximise nutrition or to prevent decline. I cannot comment on the appropriateness of this without seeing the case - and again you have more experienced vets looking at this now.