My adopted dog has worn teeth. How do I know his age and senior years?

Hi there and thank you for your post! From the pictures you provided, there is definitely some severe attrition (dental wearing) occurring throughout Judge's mouth. I see many dogs with worn teeth and most of the time, there are no issues with the worn teeth other than the fact that they typically accumulate tartar faster than non-worn teeth (this is because the enamel has been worn off). The only concern I would have would be that I can see the small dot in the center of the tooth. This structure is known as the pulp chamber, which houses the nerve and blood supply to the tooth. If this is exposed, the current recommendation is to either have a root canal performed or have the tooth removed. It does appear that Judge has tartar on his teeth. I would recommend a dental cleaning under anesthesia and have the teeth checked for any signs of pulp exposure. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. I am also available by phone or text based consultation if needed. If Judge chews on hard bones or toys, I would stop this so that the wearing does not worsen.

Hello. The teeth are quite worn down, but without a thorough oral exam, it is difficult to evaluate exactly what is going on. I can tell you that some dogs, out of anxiety, boredom, even an obsessive compulsive condition, will chew on rocks or chain link fencing & can wear down & chip away at the teeth resulting in this. Perhaps being in a forever stable home is what this poor pup needs. Thank you so much for considering adoption & contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Chance is a handsome boy! I will give his age my best guess! From the pictures, I would say he's a couple of years old, maybe between two and four years old. I wouldn't class him as a senior dog (over seven), but he looks older than a year. He does have lovely white teeth, but it's hard to age a dog based solely on it's teeth. A senior dog who is around 10 could have better teeth due to regular dental than a younger dog who is allowed to chew bones and has no dental care. His eyes look bright and clear, which leads me to believe he is younger than a senior dog. As for the grey hairs on his muzzle, it could be part of his normal coat, but dogs as young as four to five can start having grey hairs. Anyway, I hope this helps, a vet who sees him in person may have a better estimate than I do :-)

The missing teeth may indicate old age or could indicate severe dental disease that is common in smaller breed dogs. I would recommend to take him to your local veterinarians office to have him scanned for a microchip just in case he is lost. It probably would not be a bad idea to have him checked out as well and to get an estimate of his age. Offer a mixture of dry and canned food as well as pick up some dewormer from the veterinarians office. Best of luck with your rescue!

It is only possible to evaluate the age of a puppy up to the age of 6 weeks, this is done according to the teeth (canines teeth grow at the age of 4 weeks, molars at 6 weeks). after that age it is usually a pure educated guess.

Sometimes dogs wear their teeth down by chewing on things. Such as if he used to chew tennis balls all the time, or was in a cage and chewed and pulled on the doors. It would be very rare that they would have been filed down on purpose. I assume he probably wore them down doing something repetitively. Best of luck I’m glad he now has a great forever home! Thank you for using Pet Coach.

There are a couple of things you can check to try to determine your dog's age, including their teeth and energy levels. This website gives details on how to determine how old your dog is: http://blog.adoptandshop.org/determining-a-dogs-age/