# Overbite



## angela923 (Nov 24, 2005)

Pudding has an overbite. I've seen two vets about it and both said that he will have to have doggy braces or have them filed down... I've ask a few people and a lot of them said that a lot of their vets told them the same thing but they didn't do anything and the dog turned out fine...

The two vets said that his lower teeth will poke the roof of the mouth or the gums.. and that will be a problem..









Any of you guys have experience with overbites?

Oh and Pudding is 5.5 months, teething!


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## HappyB (Feb 28, 2005)

> Pudding has an overbite. I've seen two vets about it and both said that he will have to have doggy braces or have them filed down... I've ask a few people and a lot of them said that a lot of their vets told them the same thing but they didn't do anything and the dog turned out fine...
> 
> The two vets said that his lower teeth will poke the roof of the mouth or the gums.. and that will be a problem..
> 
> ...



Can you give a distance between the upper and lower teeth? Is it 1/4 inch or more? I've seen some vets who think the dog has a bad bite when it's a scissor bite and correct. Maybe with more information on how the pup looks now, we can offer some advice. Did the vet tell you that the lower jaw continues to grow after the upper jaw stops?


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## angela923 (Nov 24, 2005)

It's not 1/4" It's a lot less than that but he has a tiny mouth and teeth so... If I had to guess, it would be about 1/8"
It almost looks like the lower teeth is poking the gum beside the upper canines, however, he's eating fine and everything is ok right now.

The first vet did not think that the lower jaw will grow. The second vet thought that the jaw would be locked in even if it did grow...

I also asked the breeder, she said that most puppies have this problem and the lower jaw WILL grow and she guarentees it...


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## HappyB (Feb 28, 2005)

> It's not 1/4" It's a lot less than that but he has a tiny mouth and teeth so... If I had to guess, it would be about 1/8"
> It almost looks like the lower teeth is poking the gum beside the upper canines, however, he's eating fine and everything is ok right now.
> 
> The first vet did not think that the lower jaw will grow. The second vet thought that the jaw would be locked in even if it did grow...
> ...



If it were my pup, I wouldn't be that concerned with it being a problem at this age.


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## msmagnolia (Sep 8, 2004)

Sassy has an overbite. That is the fault that kept her from being shown. I'm not worried about it at all. You can't see it when you look at her and it doesn't seem to bother her. And she's been spayed, so she won't be passing the unfortunate trait to any more little malts.


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## angela923 (Nov 24, 2005)

Thank you for your inputs !


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## charmypoo (Sep 11, 2004)

I suggest you get the opinion from a specialist - dentist. They really know teeth a lot better than the vets. I was amazed at how much more she was able to tell me than the other vets I have seen. The price is not a huge difference.

I took Cupcake and Jellybean to a dentist on Thursday because I wanted to make sure their bites are ok. The dentist said they are both fine right now but Cupcake has a chance of the bite going off. I am sending her weekly photos of both girls to be monitored.


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## MaxMommy (Nov 1, 2005)

My lhasa had and underbite...I never had a problem with it.

There mouths are open most of the time, anyway...so, I wouldn't worry about it too much till later. Just constantly check the upper part of his mouth to see if there are any pressure intentations from the lower teeth.

here is another discussion about the subject:
http://malteseforum.com/indexer/overbite-problem-8391_0.htm


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