My 1-year-old dog lost a tooth. Could it be a delayed puppy tooth?

The picture is a little blurry but it does appear to look like a tooth. Makivali should have lost all his puppy teeth by ten months old but some small breed dogs can be late in development. If you don’t know what adult teeth look like vs puppy teeth, I would recommend to have him seen by his veterinarian to know if this is a normal tooth shedding or if this is a broken tooth, tooth root abscess or other pathological process. Many times pets don’t exhibit many signs of dental pain so you can’t base a decision off how he is acting. If it’s a normal puppy tooth, no reason to change his food. If it’s related to disease, you need to address that and may temporarily change him to a soft diet. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

There is definitely a tooth missing there and it should not be a baby tooth unless the permenant tooth has a delayed eruption. For a permenant tooth to be dislodged like this, it would take a lot of force and would likely have fractured the root. If you know of a recent event that would have caused this to happen, then it would be best to have a vet examine him. They can take x-rays and check for the broken root. If there hasn't been a a recent epsisode of trauma and Zeek is otherwise normal and healthy, then you can wait and monitor him for a month or two to see if there is a permenant tooth that erupts (assuming this is a delayed eruption). I would definitely alert your vet about this if he is over a year old and there is still no tooth, or he has any swelling or other signs of infection/problems in the meantime. I hope that helps and all is well with Zeek.

Hello. Yes, this is a deciduous (baby tooth). More specifically, it is a cap that was pushed off when the adult premolar erupted. No need to worry about this. It was just a little late coming off. Thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! From your picture it appears to be a baby canine tooth. In small breed dogs sometimes the baby teeth can become retained and the puppy doesn’t lose them at all. I recommend removing the baby teeth that haven’t shed on their own when the puppy is spayed or neutered. My thoughts are that at least one Chacha’s baby canine teeth didn’t shed when it was supposed to. It was likely delayed. And it’s a GOOD thing it’s out now. If you are worried have your Vet take a look to see if any more baby teeth are present and discuss removing them at her spay. I hope this helps and have a great day!

Hi there! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is certainly possible, especially if he was chewing on something hard for example. If it is one of his incisors (small front teeth), he should be just fine. Have a good evening!

No, it isn't normal for a one year old dog to suddenly lose a tooth. It could be a retained baby tooth that just fell out, or Myles could have hurt his tooth causing it to fall out. I would have him seen by a vet. He needs his mouth examined to determine if the root is still present, and it will have to be removed if it is.

I would not be too concerned about the tooth at this time. It is difficult to tell from the picture, but the tooth in question looks as if it is a baby tooth that has broken off. If this is the case, the tooth will fall out sometime between 12-16 weeks of age. If this is an adult tooth, then I would recommend you continue to monitor it for now. If the tooth is still looking abnormal at the time of your dog’s spay (around 6 months of age) then your vet can remove it while she is already under anesthesia. This way it will not cause any future problems. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.