Pet Dental Health Month - Missing Teeth

Missing teeth can be a heartache for a Belgian breeder or the owner of a pup destined for the breed ring. While the standards do allow some leeway for missing teeth, obviously you would prefer a Belgian with a full set of adult teeth.

Missing teeth can occur for a variety of reasons. A tooth could be knocked out in wild play or doing a face plant on a hard surface. A broken tooth could get infected and need to be pulled. In some cases a tooth will be present but has not erupted through the gum and is called "impacted". This may be a "degree" of missing teeth such as late dropping testicles versus never dropping testicles but that is not totally determined at this time. X-rays (radiographs) are the only way to know for sure if a tooth is truly missing.

To add to confusion for breeders, a puppy with a full set of puppy teeth may still end up missing one or more adult teeth. If a tooth is missing at the puppy or deciduous stage, then generally the adult tooth for that position will be missing as well. Taking x-rays (radiographs) at 10 weeks of age is the only way to be sure all the adult teeth are present.

The reality however is that most missing teeth, especially premolars and molars are missing due to genetics. It seems that missing teeth are probably the result of a polygenic situation - meaning multiple genes are involved. C.A. Sharp is known for her work on genetics in Australian Shepherds. She has done a thorough look at dental problems in Aussies - much of which may apply across breeds.

Her guidance on breeding dogs with dental faults is a good guideline for any breeder. "As stated previously, bite faults and missing teeth are likely to be polygenic in inheritance. Each is also variable in the degree of fault between individuals. Dogs that have dental faults bad enough to be considered disqualifications under the breed standard ought not to be bred. Minor bite faults have only minimal impact on the dog’s ability to function. Before it is bred, the degree of a dog’s dental faults will have to be weighed along with all the other virtues and faults the dog has. If the dog is then considered worthy for breeding, it should not put to mates of similar pedigree (where genes for the fault clearly lurk,) or to mates from families where the its dental fault is known to occur. If, when being so bred, the faulty dog throws multiple offspring with the same dental fault, or produces affected pups with different mates, then it should probably be withheld from any further breeding."

German Shepherd Dog breeders in Europe have actually developed a system for evaluating dogs who may have teeth that are not truly missing but broke off or were damaged. 

From a European veterinary conference, a presentation called "Dental Problems in Young Dogs" by P. Fahrenkrug takes a different view.

"Breeding Regulations rg. Missing P1’s and M3’s (lower)

Many Kennel Clubs demand a full set of teeth incl. P1 and lower M3 for the Pedigree of stud dogs. Odontological studies and biological facts have proven, that P1 and lower M3 are WISDOM TEETH for the dog. They are currently undergoing a natural process of phylogenetical reduction and elimination .Since Kennel Clubs are fighting against mother nature in this matter, the clubs should be recommended to cancel this politic and accept dogs with missing P1’s (only P1, NOT P2-4 !!) and missing lower M3’s as fully licensed stud dogs."

Bottom line, missing teeth can show up after generations of dogs with full dentition. Dogs to be bred need to be evaluated for their dentition. Missing teeth should be considered in the whole picture of the virtues and faults of that individual dog.