Puppy Dentistry
Canine Dentistry should start when the dog is young. The first check-up at eight weeks of age should include a complete oral examination.
Delayed Eruption of Deciduous Teeth 
By eight weeks of age, the deciduous (baby) teeth should all have erupted. Occasionally, the deciduous teeth will fail to erupt. In most cases failure to erupt is caused by dense, fibrous tissue. Small breed dogs seem particularly prone to this condition. If the deciduous teeth fail to erupt, the adult teeth may fail to properly develop.
Dental radiographs are necessary to evaluate the shape, size and location of the deciduous and permanent dentition. If the deciduous teeth appear otherwise normal, incisions are made in the gingiva to cut around the crowns of the impacted deciduous teeth..
Puppy Orthodontics
By eight weeks, the deciduous (baby) teeth should be erupted and in place. The incisors of the upper jaw should just slightly overlap the lower incisors and the lower canine tooth should be occluding half way between the upper lateral incisor and the upper canine tooth.
The growth of the upper and lower jaw are under separate genetic control, the growth of one only influences the growth of the other when they are interlocked together by the interdigitation of teeth. The upper – lower jaw relationship must be maintained throughout the growth period and into adulthood. When it does not, we have malocclusion.
If the puppy has a significant jaw length discrepancy so that there is an abnormal dental interlock (lower canines digging holes in the hard palate or upper incisors trapped behind lower incisors) then the potential for the short jaw to catch up is mechanically impeded.
A puppy with a malocclusion my be helped by interceptive orthodontics. This procedure is the selective extraction of deciduous teeth that would impede the development of a proper bite. Clients and breeders need to understand that, even if the animal turns out normal, it required treatment and this genetic condition may be passed on to offspring.
Interceptive orthodontics immediately relieves the oral trauma and pain associated with abnormal tooth-to-soft tissue contacts. This on its own is sufficient cause to recommend the surgery.
Interceptive orthodontics should be performed as soon as possible. The goal is normalize the jaw relationship before the permanent teeth erupt and recreate the permanent dental interlock. The more time between deciduous tooth extraction and permanent tooth eruption, the better the chances of success. Most dogs with jaw length discrepancies at eight weeks of age will not be normal, and there may be orthodontic problems when the permanent teeth erupt.
Fractured Deciduous Teeth
Deciduous canine teeth are long and thin and puppies will be puppies! This makes the primary teeth subject to wear and fracture. Just like in humans, when the tooth is fractured, the pulp is exposed. The pulp is the tissue inside a tooth and consists of blood vessels, nerves and connective tissue. Oral bacteria can enter, infect and kill the pulp. It is very painful while the pulp is dieing. Infection can spread into the surrounding bone.
Fractured deciduous teeth should be carefully extracted with appropriately proper instruments. This requires some skill and knowledge of dental anatomy in that the roots of the deciduous teeth are very close to the adult tooth, which is in the process of forming.
Eruption of Adult Teeth
Around 16 weeks of age, some of the permanent incisors should be erupting. The adult canines and some of the premolars may also be erupting by this time. A problem occurs when the deciduous teeth do not fall out by the time the adult teeth are present. The rule is that the same tooth of the same type should not be present at the same time. If the deciduous tooth is still in place, it should be removed as soon as possible and should not be left until the patient is spayed or neutered.
Missing Teeth
Missing teeth should always be investigated with an intra-oral radiograph. Though this may be of no functional significance to the animal a missing tooth may also be caused by the tooth failing to erupt. In this case a dentigerous cyst may form. While benign, dentigerous cysts are destructive of bone as they expand, which can lead to loss of adjacent teeth.