Capping a dog’s canine teeth

[Raincityrider]

Does anyone have experience with capping their dog’s canine teeth, good or bad, that they would be willing to share?

My three year old GSD fractured a canine that will require a root canal and a chromium cobalt cap. This isn’t optional in order to save the tooth but the dental specialist is recommending that I also cap his opposing canine at the same time as it is tipped and showing enamel wear that could create problems for him in the future. (he doesn’t get antlers, bones, frisbees or tennis balls and isn’t a big chewer aside from bully sticks but here we are.)

I am willing to do whatever is best for his comfort and long term health but I’m wondering if it is wise to cap any non critical teeth on such a young dog. The dental vet assured me he has never had cap fail and it is better to proactively preserve teeth but I’ve also read caps work best on older dogs who are restricted from a lot of “biting and chewing activities.” This in no way describes my dog or his preferred lifestyle. He is young, large, very active and his reward for work is an energetic round with a tug toy or catching his rubber ball.

Anyone have any thoughts or experiences? This is a new one for me. I’ve had several working line dogs and this guy is the first one that has needed higher level dental intervention.

[AllSport]

I really do get side tracked because of this forum. Anyway, our old GSP was addicted to carrying rocks around and I jokingly said we should get caps for her canines because they got worn down. In all seriousness though, the vet didn’t see the point to it. So my question is, why does the tooth need to be saved? You said he’s a working dog so is that part of it?

[mommy_peanut]

I’ve know of quite a few Schutzhund/IGP dogs that had capped canines (for whatever reason) & those caps held up throughout their training/competing years.
I do not recall what type of cap they had used.

[jherold]

Many years ago I worked for a vet who was working on becoming board certified in vet dentistry. We did a root canal and capped a canine for a police dog. The cap did come off once during an arrest and they had to use a metal detector to find it.

That said, I would do the tooth that had pulp exposure and leave the other alone.

One of my shepherds wore her teeth to the gum line. When checked by this same vet, there was no pulp exposure as the pulp receded as the teeth wore down.

[kaya842]

I only recently learned that capping was a thing and have no personal experience there but my lab mix lost both top canines after getting into a fight with our other dog (they no longer live together). One I believe was lost during the tussle, the other was damaged and pulled after IIRC. She has done 100% fine, including chewing on marrow bones, since then with no movement of the surrounding teeth. It’s been 6? 7? Years now. She does not do tug FWIW (not her style) but does enjoy a mean debarking of a good stick. Capping may be more trouble than just removing?

[Raincityrider]

That’s good to hear. If caps will hold up to a schutzhund dog I imagine they will hold up for mine.

[Raincityrider]

For the broken tooth there is really no option to keep the tooth except root canal/cap since it is now infected. For a dog so young I would worry about the loss of bone density to the jaw if it was extracted this early in his life. I inherited an old yorkie who had issues in that area after she lost all her canines but she was quite elderly. So I’ve already agreed to restoring one tooth with a cap. I am still on the fence about the other.

[JumpWithPanache]

I know a couple PSA dogs that had capped teeth and remained competitive. Just make sure your vet/dentist is experieced with the procedure. If not, I would do some research or be referred to a specialist with experience doing police/IGP/PSA dogs.

For the worn tooth, I’d leave it. My GSD had fairly poor enamel quality plus an inexperienced owner (me) who let her play with the wrong things as a puppy. Despite this, she went on to compete through PSA2. We switched her to a leg dog once she was in the 1s because she just didn’t have enough tooth to stick the bicep grips. She also spent a substantial amount of time either on a bungee or the wall with a leather wedge to build up a crushing grip specifically to overcome the worn teeth. She’s now 14 and happily retired, with no lasting ill effects from the worn out teeth.

[Raincityrider]

Thank you Jumps with Panache, did your dog show any increased sensitivity along with tooth wear?

I am at least confident in the practitioner; they are a dedicated canine dental practice and have a tremendous amount of experience with these kinds of dental restorations. It’s pretty much all they do. But the old adage of “when you’re the hammer, everything looks like a nail” definitely could apply here. I suppose I may be by nature a bit skeptical of specialists or at a minimum I want to be well educated about an intervention before I commit. I found the comment by the receptionist that they were currently booked with nearly 100% Shepherds and Mals to be both oddly reassuring and thought provoking.

[JumpWithPanache]

Hi Rainy! I didn’t see any sensitivity associated with the wear nor any necrotic indicators. She had no issues doing the bitework (other than no “points” to sink into suit material), still chewed on benebones, and could chew up a bully stick like nobody’s business. As someone else mentioned, if a worn tooth is left alone, the pulp and nerve recedes to match the enamel wear.

My youngest GSD (she’s 6 now) is starting to show some wear on her canines, but it’s just normal wear. I worry that she’ll break a tooth because she insists on catching her jolly ball with her face.

[kaya842]

Interesting about the concern for bone loss - that’s has never come up with my dog who lost the teeth/ had one pulled. She had a full dental in July 2024 with full head X-rays and the specialist had nothing but great things to say. The loss of the canines seem to have not impacted her in any way nor caused any issues with other teeth (the dental was just maintenance/ a precaution). She was about 3-4 when she lost her teeth so same age as your dog.

It may help assuage any doubts (or reinforce your decision) to get another specialists opinion. I’ve done that several times for my horses and did so for my in laws husky when he was having severe dental issues. We ended up driving him 4 hours away to the only board certified dentist in the state and don’t regret it for a second as one visit with them fixed what 3-4 “specialist” practices at home could not.