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My dog broke a tooth. What should I do? Can I monitor before a vet?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Male | 85 lbs

My dog Titus broke his tooth. Please see attach pictures. Would like to know the type of treatment this would warrant based on what you are seeing upon inital review of photos. Is there some type of tooth cement that can be used for this? My dog is a chewer, 1 year old. He has in the past two months started chewing more hard surfaces and edges of furniture. Today it was his crate. Is this something that my husband and I can just monitor for a couple days before calling our vet?

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2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Makenzie Kurth, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on April 8th, 2019

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. So this is a “complicated” fracture of the canine- meaning the pulp cavity is exposed. Unfortunately, if Titus walked into my office, I’d recommend scheduling a dental and removing the tooth. Once the pulp cavity is exposed, bacteria can travel up it and cause a deep abscess in the bone. Then you have weeks of antibiotics and still have to do the procedure. This does not always happen, but there is no way to know which case it will happen to. The other option is seeing a dental specialist for a root canal and crown. That being said, it’s not very painful unless he is chewing with it (which he’ll probably avoid). And not much is going to happen in the next two days, or even in the next two months. Don’t put anything on there and just leave it alone. Schedule an appointment when it’s convenient and talk with your vet about your options. Also talk about why he is chewing his crate (often a sign of moderate to severe separation anxiety). And how to prevent future damage to other teeth. Best wishes to you and Titus!

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Lauren Kennedy, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    It looks as if he has broken off the tip of the canine tooth which has caused the pulp cavity to be exposed. The pulp cavity is the living portion of the tooth. Once it is expose it can be very painful and very prone to infection. The best recommended course of treatment is to either have a root canal performed by a veterinary dentist or have the tooth extracted by your regular veterinarian. Either would fix the problem. This is not an emergency but definitely needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

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