Mouth & Tooth Disorders: Drooling, reluctance to chewing, misaligned bite


Excessive Drooling

If your dog is showing sings of excessive drooling then it may be caused by a salivary cyst, a periodontal disease, tongue injury, or simply a foreign object. Salivary cysts look like large blisters that occur under the tongue. If your dog has periodontal disease then the cement that holds his teeth in place gets destroyed. Tongue wounds can occur from self infliction or by getting info fights with dogs.

What to do: If your dog's drooling is the result of salivary cysts, then they will be need to be drained by your veterinarian. The damaged saliva gland must be removed as well. If your dog is suffering from periodontal disease then his teeth will have to be removed if the problem has persisted to the point of loosened teeth. Bites and burns will also need the veterinarian's attention. And it may be too painful for your dog to eat under these circumstances, so be sure to feed him small soft pieces of food.

Reluctance to Chewing

Some dogs develop certain mouth and tooth problems which keeps them from wanting to chew or bite down all of the way. This can be a result of a tooth cavity, a tooth root abscess, a fractured tooth, or distemper teeth. Large cavities are visible as damage to the tooth enamel and often occur at the gum margin. Root abscesses may be a bit difficult to see. The molars are the teeth that most commonly fracture. And your dog may have contracted the distemper virus as a puppy, which causes his teeth to look eroded as the dog grows up to be an adult.

What to do: Most of the time the best practical thing for your veterinarian to do is to remove the tooth that is causing your dog's pain. Routine tooth decay can be treated with fillings. If your dog is suffering from abscesses and/or fractures then this will require root canal work. And lastly, if there is tooth damage from the distemper virus, those teeth that are damaged will have to be removed by your vet, because distemper damage is permanent and cannot be reversed.

Misaligned Bite

Many dogs have an undershot jaw or an overshot jaw. When looking at your dog's mouth, the upper and lower teeth should mesh perfectly when he closes his mouth. Breeds such as the Pekingese and Bulldog tend to have an undershot bite, while Doberman and Collies tend to show an overshot bite.

What to do: Fortunately for your dog, no action is typically necessary unless the bite misalignment is causing your dog discomfort. Discomfort is most likely to occur with overshot jaws as opposed to undershot ones. Your vet can fit a removable tool over the upper front teeth and hard palate, which will help aid the dog's bit to move to a more comfortable position.
Behavioral Problems Associated With Parasitic Disease

Some of the problem behaviors in dogs are a result of an infection from parasite. These include internal parasites such as roundworm and tapeworm, flea infestation, ear mites, and Hypermetria.

Many dog owners are not aware that most parasite infection such as roundworm infestation is a condition that requires immediate veterinary attention. The fact is that it is important for all puppies to be dewormed as well as vaccinated against distemper and hepatitis. Most problems related to internal parasitism involve owners who do not know about the adverse effects of digestive malfunction, but still expect a young dog to control his loose stools, be able to housetrain successfully, and learn all the more complicated lessons of being an ideal household pet. When the puppy does not respond well to the training, the owner sometimes reacts by isolating, punishing or rejecting the pet socially. The resulting confusion and mismanagement of the pet often produce a wide spectrum of behavioral maladjustments.

The following problems are often shown in dogs with internal parasites: Chewing; Digging; Barking; Whining; Unruliness (due to being isolated as punishment); and
Stool eating which is possibly due to a fecal fixation resulting from excessive punishment associated with stools.

Flea infestation has led to rejection by some dog owners. Most of them will only try to get rid of fleas on the dog. They buy a flea collar or flea spray, but usually do nothing about the fleas infesting the dog's regular sleeping and resting areas. The result of this is that the dog continues to be infested and is eventually moved to the yard. The problems associated with such social isolation then may evolve.

Ear mite infestation led to isolation-based problems involving destructive chewing. Often, the dogs constant scratching drives his owner crazy and will eventually result from the dog being shut away. Some dog owners neglect the rather obvious ear odor commonly associated with ear mites, and refuse to handle the behavioral problem until the ear problem clears up. Consult your vet when you notice a foul odor coming from your dogs ear. Your vet will prescribe treatment for the scratching problem which in turn will lead to subsequent behavioral corrections.

It is amazing that most animals displaying signs of hypermetria had histories of heavy roundworm or tapeworm infections as puppies. In cases of Hypermetria, the dogs tend to bump into objects, usually submerge their noses when drinking, and display an exaggerated fore-throw of the front limbs when walking. Some cases of dogs suffering from this condition are abnormally hostile and seemed to be devoid of long-term memory. These dogs had to be re-taught simple lessons every day.