My 4-month-old puppy's broken tooth is dark. Is it a baby tooth?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This does warrant a visit to your veterinarian as that color of the tooth suggests that the tooth may be dead and needs to be removed. I recommend that you have Luna evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. They would be able to look at this closely and decide what would be best. Good luck and have a great day!

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.

Hello. That tooth probably should come out, even though it is a puppy tooth, but you can wait until Friday as long as Luna does not seem uncomfortable. . Your veterinarian might just leave it be, but there is a small chance of infection that can get into the root & then the bone causing problems with the adult tooth. Just see what your vet says, but she will be fine until your appointment. Thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

The tooth that is cracked looks like a baby canine tooth. The adult canine tooth will not come in until closer to 6 months of age. The problem is if the pulp cavity of the tooth is open, the broken tooth can be painful and can get infected. I would recommend having your veterinarian examine Ella and determine if anything needs to be done about the tooth now or if we can just wait for her adult tooth to come in and push the baby tooth out. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hello and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It does look as though the pulp cavity is exposed, which commonly happens with fractures like this. If the pulp cavity is open, the root is exposed, which is very painful and increases the risk that the tooth will get infected. I would recommend taking Sky to your veterinarian to confirm if the pulp cavity is exposed and extract the tooth if it is.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Judging from the pictures, it appears that the tooth may have been traumatized. This may or may not have compromised the health of the tooth. I would recommend a dental cleaning to remove any tartar and also to get x-rays done of that particular tooth to see if there is any evidence the tooth is broken below the gingiva or if there is disease of the pulp chamber of the tooth. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further!

Thank you for posting pictures. (I know that is always a challenge with a puppy!) From the pictures, the brown area just appears to be particulate build up on the tooth. That particular tooth has 3 roots, so there is a depression between the roots that things can get stuck in. (One of my dogs always has problems there.) I would recommend using an infant toothbrush and pet toothpaste (my favorite is PetSmile (http://store.petsmileusa.com)) to brush her teeth and continue daily. I hope that was helpful! Thanks for using PetCoach.