My 8-week puppy's underbite is rapidly worsening. Is it normal?

Congratulations on your new puppy!!! To answer your question, no they are not expected to out grow the underbite. The underbite will always be present and does not generally get worse. Most dogs with underbites don’t experience many problems. The main issue I see in practice is if the teeth align and rub again each other or create a wound within the gums or hard palate. I hope you find this helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Slight underbites and overbites do not cause any major issue in terms of eating, drinking, chewing on a bone or grinding teeth. If you are concerned, there are veterinary dentists. You would have to ask your veterinarian if there is one in your area and get a referral. In my 17 years of practice, I have seen dogs with severe under bites do just fine! But I have heard of veterinary dental braces which would need a veterinary dentist. I do not recommend putting any dog through that unless it was absolutely necessary though.

An over bite can be a problem depending on the alignment of the lower jaw. If the lower canines come in contact with the hard pallet, then that can cause a problem. This can be fixed however by removing the lower teeth or shortening and capping them. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.

If the underbite is mild, most pets live with not issues due to the abnormality (there are some breeds where an underbite is actually standard to the breed, such as a bulldog). If the underbite is more severe it may cause problems and if you had plans for breeding the dog it would not be advised with this abnormality.

An overbite could cause serious damage to the hard palate if the malocclusion is severe and the bottom teeth cause damage to the top of the mouth. Sometimes deciduous and adult baby teeth need to be extracted with an overbite, and sometimes certain types of physical therapy can help the adult teeth grow in appropriately so that they don't require extraction. If you would be unable or unwilling to invest in dental care, including potential advanced dental care with a specialist you may want to look for another puppy since it would be very difficult to know the extent of the dental issues without having a vet examine the pup.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your puppy. It is difficult to say, but it appears that the lower two adult teeth are starting to erupt. This typically happens at about 16 weeks of age. As the teeth fully erupt, they tend to straighten out. I hope this information helps!

What you are describing is an underbite. It is hard to tell from the photos but it also looks like his jaw is not in alignment. That may just be the angle or the quality of the photo. Without examining myself I can't really say. Unless you want to spend a lot of money at a veterinary dental specialist trying to have this "fixed" I don't see the reason to do anything about it. I don't even know if you have dental specialists in Zim so you would likely have to bring him to South Africa. Really, this is a cosmetic problem and likely will not cause him any problems in the future. There is nothing you can do for this at home to rectify it. I personally would not be concerned if this was my dog so I have to agree with your vets. Sorry, I wish I had a quick fix for you but there is not really anything to be done. Hope this helps. Best wishes.