dog tooth loss

Question
QUESTION: i have a 28lb. female dog that I adopted as a puppy 10 years ago.  she is a cocker, shephard, retriever mix.  Her back tooth is just about hanging out of her mouth.  she is trying to pull it out.  she doesn't seem to be in any pain and still has healthy appetite.  my husband and i are out of work and can't run her down to the vet.  can we just let it come out on its own? should we help her get it out? how can we care for it when it does come out?  there is very little bleeding right now as she is trying to get it out.

ANSWER: She will get it out on her own. This indicates a pretty advanced case of periodontal disease. Teeth don't fall out on their own unless the dog has never had any dental care.  Back molars are usually three rooted teeth which is probably why she is having a hard time with it. It may be attached to the gum still at one point. If you pull it out you could do some damage to her already friable and irritated gum's.

Once it is out there is nothing you can do for her. She will heal on her own but her mouth is full of bacteria from having this dental disease.
This bacteria eventually makes its way into the major organs of the body causing early kidney, heart and liver failure. There is so much evidence now that bacteria from bad teeth are causing these diseases that the human medical field starting taking notice of this and spreading the message to people everywhere.

I hope you find work soon and I hope that one of the first things you do is take your friend in and get her teeth looked at and cleaned properly so she can be comfortable and relatively disease free in her mouth. At this point periodontal disease is not reversible but a good cleaning will help tremendously.

Good luck and let me know if she gets it out ok.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: she got her tooth out last night.  it wasn't black like i  thought and there wasn't any blood.  how can i clean her mouth myself since i can't get her to a vet?

Answer
You cannot clean out her mouth. She needs professional dental care. What is going on in her mouth is beyond anything you can do at this point.

Even brushing her teeth daily won't help because she has too much plaque and bacteria built up in there and half of it is below the gum line.

She needs a dental cleaning and care from the vets- so you are going to have to make it a priority or wait until you can get her in.
I have done over 3,500 dentals on dogs over a period of 20+ years and I specialized in Small Animal Dentistry. Knowing what she has in there is the reason I am telling you that at this point there is just nothing you can do at home.

I hope that you can get her in sooner than later.
Good luck.  
p.s. I am glad she got the tooth out. There is no blood because the whole area it came out of was already rotten and the blood supply had died to that tooth long ago. Most owners never see the teeth that dogs lose. They usually just swallow them when they eat.