# So worried about something possibly silly - please help!



## jessica-01 (Dec 21, 2010)

Hello everyone,

Thanks for reading my message. I'm probably being very silly, but am really worried since my 4 year old Maltese "Lilliput" may need all of her bottom front teeth removed. (She has the smallest mouth and teeth you ever did see! But I stupidly gave her an antler chew, thinking it was a healthy alternative to rawhide....and she duly broke two teeth on it, loosening all the surrounding ones). 

I am so worried that, if her remaining teeth are all taken out at the bottom front of her mouth, her tongue will then hang out? This will then cause drying-out etc problems to the tongue. (It'll also look not too great, but I feel so so so guilty for having such a silly worry.)

Does anyone have any experience of all front, bottom teeth being removed in a Maltese and, if so, did their tongues hang out and/or become sore?

Sorry to be so worried over what is essentially probably a trivial (and looks oriented) problem. I'm seriously now considering teeth implants, but feel terrible for thinking of putting Lilly through that :-( 

Thank you in advance.


----------



## Ann Mother (Dec 18, 2013)

Don't know answer but sure others do here. I'm sorry this happened to Lilly & you.


----------



## jessica-01 (Dec 21, 2010)

Ann Mother said:


> Don't know answer but sure others do here. I'm sorry this happened to Lilly & you.


Thank you Pat. I've searched online for ages and can't find anything about the tongue potentially hanging out after teeth removal. Fingers crossed someone on here may possibly have some experience


----------



## Kathleen (Aug 4, 2011)

I am so sorry. Poor little Lilly. 
I don't have any experience with this either, but a few people here have had to have a lot of their Malt's teeth pulled. Hopefully they will reply and let you know how they are doing.
Will you be seeing a veterinary dentist? They should be able to tell you what to expect. It seems to be pretty common that lots of teeth have to be removed.


----------



## mss (Mar 1, 2006)

I don't think you need to worry. I think the canines are more important to keeping the tongue "inside" - but as a rescuer I've had dogs that ended up with no teeth at all, and their tongues didn't hang out unless they were very hot or stressed, and it didn't cause any problems.  :grouphug:


----------



## maddysmom (Mar 8, 2012)

My last malt was a rescue and had terrible teeth so most of her teeth were removed. I don't ever remember her tongue hanging out but her face did get sunken in from lack of teeth...she was still beautiful in my eyes


----------



## jessica-01 (Dec 21, 2010)

Oh thank you all SO much! That is all such a relief to hear. I was reading about all sorts of problems to the tongue when hanging out externally and could not sleep (it's night time here in the UK). 

Kathleen - I will indeed see my vet. Quite right to mention that! He's been super so far and we are presently using Q10 supplements, to try to tighten up the gums and save the remaining five teeth in that area (she's already lost two) but it's not going too well yet. I have another couple of weeks to go, until her next check up. I can talk to him about the tongue worries then. I would call him tomorrow, but I made a real fool of myself rushing in last week in hysterics and crying as I'd convinced myself a lump I found on Lilly overnight was a Mast Cell tumour. I'm beyond grateful that it was only a cyst and the vet and nurses were so patient and kind with the hysterical me and (a much better behaved!) Lilly, but I'm a bit embarrassed to return so soon with this question! 

MSS & Joanne - I had no idea the canines helped retain the tongue? And both of your direct experiences with your rescues are particularly reassuring to me. Thank you. I was told the antler chew started the problems, but I worry I'm doing something wrong to have lost so many teeth as I try to do all the correct things with my darling girl. It's so helpful and calming (not being mean of course) to hear that there are other Maltese losing teeth and, more importantly, without complications. Perhaps it's a weakness in the breed/small dogs generally, rather than Lilly having a personal problem or me doing something wrong...

Thank you again to all three of you for kindly taking the time to post to me. You have no idea how it's helped. I was really fretting here, all alone across the Pond! I love my Maltese girl so much. She comes absolutely everywhere with me and she's my best friend. 

Such a marvellous site!! Thank you.


----------



## Matilda's mommy (Jun 1, 2005)

To my shock three years ago I had Matilda in for her yearly dental, when I picked her up they informed me that they had removed 9 teeth:w00t:
I had been giving Matilda bully sticks, she loved them, little did I know that while she was chewing away her front little teeth were becoming loose.
She had 4 removed at the top and 4 at the bottom, I was beside myself, I was crying in the vets office, so very upset. My vet tried to comfort me by telling me most small breed dogs loose those teeth, that actually they really didn't need them:angry:
I was so afraid Matilda's tongue would stick out of her mouth, everyday I would watch her just waiting for that to happen
Well Matilda's little tongue only sticks out a itty bitty bit when she is really relaxed right before she goes to sleep, other wise all day long it never sticks out. I know how you are feeling, hugs to you
I'm so sorry you have to go through this, I'm betting there are many dogs who have lost those little teeth because of bully sticks and antlers, I think there should be written on the tag "Buyer Beware"


----------



## jessica-01 (Dec 21, 2010)

Aww Paula, that is such a sweet story. Makes tears well up! Thank you for sharing. How good to hear the vet's words. I'm sorry you had such a worrying time also, though. Sounds a similar experience to me. You are lucky though, in that Matilda still has some teeth left at the bottom front of her mouth I think? My Lilliput will lose all of her remaining ones there :-( 

I agree about warnings being needed. I feel terrible. My vet told me that statistically, tooth loss in this country has increased substantially since the antlers were introduced into the market fairly recently and are to blame for a lot of other general teeth problems.


----------



## Matilda's mommy (Jun 1, 2005)

Marianne, it just made me so upset thinking we might have avoided all of this if there was a warning on the bully sticks and antlers, I wish the vets would actually contact these companies, there are other's on SM that their fluffs have lost teeth from antlers and bully sticks, maybe you will read more.
How old is your little Lilliput? Will she loose all her bottom teeth?
Matilda still has the remainder of her's minus a moler:blink:
I'll be watching for a update. Hugs to you


----------



## jessica-01 (Dec 21, 2010)

Lilly's 4 years old and has the smallest teeth ever! She's lost two at the bottom, front of her mouth and the remaining five are due to be removed next month if the Q10 supplements don't improve their stability (which is not happening at all). She's got the teeth at both sides and almost most of her teeth at the top, minus about 4 or 5 which came out when she had a clean last October. Such a shock too, just like as with you! I brush every day, but now use Plaque Off also. It's just those ruddy bully sticks and antlers, grrrr!!! 

I'll definitely keep you posted. Thank you again for your support and interest. I don't think many people over here understand how important these fluffs are to us. My Lilliput is my child and is always out with me. I'm completely over the top and never leave her alone. Poor girl is probably in dire need of some alone "Me Time"!! ;-)


----------



## Snuggle's Mom (Jan 3, 2008)

Our Chrissy had very extensive dental work last August and lost 17 teeth all total. She had an almost perfect mouth and all of a sudden everything changed. She is doing fine and just had been to the Vet a few weeks ago and he was very, very pleased. Our Vet said that due to her having such a very small mouth, he spent twice as long doing the surgery so Malts can be prone to having bad teeth since their mouths are so small. Please do not be upset as I am sure Liliput will be fine and continue to do so.


----------



## Snowbody (Jan 3, 2009)

Hi Marianne - I can imagine your concerns. Tyler fractured one of his teeth on an antler a couple of years ago so it had to be pulled. I don't give him any chewies now since some of the tendons, etc caused his stomach to not be good. The first year I brushed tyler's teeth every day and ended up finding out that he had a lot of plaque build up. Small mouth and heredity are usually the culprit. I think that Lilly's will do fine even if those teeth are pulled. I can't imagine implants for a dog. Do they even do it?


----------



## jessica-01 (Dec 21, 2010)

Snuggle's Mom said:


> Our Chrissy had very extensive dental work last August and lost 17 teeth all total. She had an almost perfect mouth and all of a sudden everything changed. She is doing fine and just had been to the Vet a few weeks ago and he was very, very pleased. Our Vet said that due to her having such a very small mouth, he spent twice as long doing the surgery so Malts can be prone to having bad teeth since their mouths are so small. Please do not be upset as I am sure Liliput will be fine and continue to do so.


Gosh, that's a lot of teeth! My Lilly was born without about 4 teeth, as her mouth is so tiny also, so she's possibly not that far behind your Chrissy. It shows you they have more teeth thanwe image, too, I guess?!?

I hope Chrissy continues to do well. She looks beautiful!! 

Thank you also for the reassurance. That makes me feel so much better. Thank you


----------



## jessica-01 (Dec 21, 2010)

Snowbody said:


> Hi Marianne - I can imagine your concerns. Tyler fractured one of his teeth on an antler a couple of years ago so it had to be pulled. I don't give him any chewies now since some of the tendons, etc caused his stomach to not be good. The first year I brushed tyler's teeth every day and ended up finding out that he had a lot of plaque build up. Small mouth and heredity are usually the culprit. I think that Lilly's will do fine even if those teeth are pulled. I can't imagine implants for a dog. Do they even do it?


Thank you Susan. Such a cute photo of Tyler!!!

Yes, I understand that implants of dogs are now commercially available. Not cheap though. Not sure that they would be possible in a miniscule Maltese mouth though. As Snuggles Mum said above, the intricate work makes the job twice as long just for cleaning. It would take a very patient and steady hand I think! I may well talk to my vet about it some more. Here in the UK at Cambridge University, they do a lot of advanced vet care so we'll see. Actually it's probably not so advanced though, when compared to American treatments, thinking about it.....!!


----------



## shellbeme (Mar 1, 2011)

I had no idea chew thingies like that can cause their teeth to become loose and need removal.


----------



## jessica-01 (Dec 21, 2010)

shellbeme said:


> I had no idea chew thingies like that can cause their teeth to become loose and need removal.


I know! It's a real shocker. At least you now know and can take preventative steps. I feel really bad, but am seemingly not the only one and that makes me cross for all of us :-(


----------



## peskykitty (Feb 8, 2021)

I see this is an old post, but I have a Maltese that I just learned needs 8 teeth pulled (they are very loose and rotten at the gum. What have you guys had to pay to have teeth pulled? I was shocked by the vets estimate.


----------

