Do Puppy Teeth Fall Out?

If this is your first time raising a puppy, you may notice some changes in their mouth and behavior and wonder, "do puppy teeth fall out?" This post will cover all of the things you should know about their teeth to make life easier for you and your puppies and to ensure your puppies grow a healthy set of teeth.

Answering the Question, Do Puppy Teeth Fall Out?"

Yes, puppy teeth fall out like baby teeth do. Let's discuss the different puppy teeth stages.

First, they are born without any teeth at all.
They'll begin cutting "milk teeth" at around 2 - 4 weeks and have teething discomfort. You can tell a puppy is teething because they gnaw on things just like a baby does with a teething ring.

Between 5 and 10 weeks old, they'll have grown a full set of 28 little teeth. At about 4 months old or a little later, they should start losing these baby teeth so adult teeth can come in.

By the time your puppy is about 6 or 8 months old, they should have a full set of 42 adult teeth.

As you might can tell, there is a range. Individual puppies and different breeds grow teeth at different rates. Puppies with shorter snouts often don't grow as many teeth either, so the normal 42 cannot be expected.

What to Expect with Puppy Teething

Puppies do experience pain, pressure, and discomfort while teething, but it should be able to be easily managed by giving them plenty of appropriate chew toys. When given a way to relieve the discomfort, their quality of life or health should not be impacted in any way.

Your puppy should act perfectly normal, playing, drinking, eating, and grooming. If they stop doing any of these things while they are teething, you should take them to the vet to ensure there is not unusual pain because of a problem or that they aren't suffering from another ailment.

Do puppies swallow their baby teeth?

They can swallow baby teeth that fall out while they are eating. It won't harm them.

Do puppies bleed when they lose their teeth?

They can bleed when they are losing teeth. Often, you'll just see little blood stains where the puppy chews on things, but it can appear to you that the puppy is losing a lot of blood because there is an impressive blood supply in a puppy's face. If the bleeding is not impacting the puppy's quality of life or is not accompanied by signs of blood loss, then the puppy is fine.

Proper Care for Puppy Teething

You need to ensure the puppy has enough of the right kinds of chew toys to safely alleviate their discomfort. Get them toys that are soft and flexible enough that you can bend them by hand. Some chew toys for teething puppies can be refrigerated so they are cold, providing additional relief. If you don't have those, you might just give them some ice cubes or frozen carrots.

Human dental products are not suitable for dogs or puppies, so don't grab the Orajel or Anbesol if you think your puppy is in undue pain. The vet can give them an appropriate puppy teething gel to serve the same purpose.

This is also a crucial time for training your puppy not to chew on things they shouldn't. They always have an instinctual need to chew, but of course, teething just ramps this up. They are going to try to chew on things they shouldn't, so make sure not to give in to them. Train them to only chew the toys you provide for them. Keep things they shouldn't chew away from them where possible. When they chew something they shouldn't, replace the wrong item with one that is appropriate or remove them from the wrong item and place them near something they should chew, say if they're chewing on a piece of furniture. Say "no," don't be affectionate with them, and turn their attention to a good chew toy.

You should be teaching them bite inhibition as well. They need to know not to bite people and other animals and that if they are engaging in good play, to bite softly. If the puppy bites you, say "Ouch!" loudly and abruptly and make it obvious you won't play or interact with them for a few seconds. Redirect them to an appropriate toy. Make sure everyone else in the household does the same. Don't rough house with your dog with your hands either. If you wrestle with the puppy or use your hands directly to play with the puppy, they won't understand why they can't bite your hand. Always have a toy between your hand and your puppy during play.

Don't try to pull out loose puppy teeth if one looks like it is about to come out. Trying to pull it out yourself provides no real benefit to the puppy and risks damaging the root. You don't want your puppy to end up with a bacterial infection. The tooth will take care of itself at the right time, or the vet can take care of it.

It is possible, though not likely, that you might notice that an adult tooth is obstructed by a baby tooth that won't come out. You could take the puppy to the vet to have it addressed, particularly if it appears to be causing them a problem.

Dental Problems to Watch for with Puppy Teething

Puppies can retain their baby teeth, and this can lead to serious tooth problems as they grow.

By thirty weeks, your puppy should have their full set of adult teeth. If there is a baby tooth that hasn't been replaced by an adult tooth or your puppy has double teeth, where the baby tooth and the adult tooth occupy the same space, you'll need to take the puppy to the vet so they can remove the trouble baby tooth without damaging the root.

Small breeds and breeds with shorter snouts have an increased risk of retaining baby teeth.

Retained baby teeth make it much more likely that the dog will eventually get canine periodontal disease. The pointy, smooth shape of their teeth makes it hard for them to get periodontal disease, but when you've got teeth crammed on each other that way, the situation changes to one where your dog's mouth is a perfect bacteria collector. They can also develop occlusions, pain, or other dental problems.

An Excellent Opportunity for Dental Hygiene

Puppyhood is the ideal time to get a dog accustomed to having their teeth brushed. They are at their most receptive at this time, so take advantage of it.

Start off while they are still teething by very gently rubbing their gums. This will help them get comfortable with having you do things to their mouth.

You can then use a soft cloth or a puppy or baby toothbrush to gently brush their teeth. Buy them some special puppy toothpaste. Never use human toothpaste, because it has ingredients in it they shouldn't have and they can't rinse their mouths and spit the toothpaste out like we can.

This way you can promote a dental hygiene routine for your dog, or at least get them more used to such activities so if you decide later to adopt better dental hygiene, they won't be shocked by it.

Getting your dog accustomed to having fingers and brushes in their mouth will also help them be tolerant when you or the vet need to examine their mouth for problems.

How CBD Oil Might Help with Puppy Teething

CBD oil, or cannabidiol, shows a great deal of promise and has become quite popular for addressing acute and chronic pain associated with puppy teething.

Should your puppy be suffering from pain, you might discuss with your vet whether cannabidiol could make a good primary or secondary management option. Vets normally give puppies a dog teething gel. If they can't use it for some reason, CBD oil might be a good option to replace it or alleviate any issues that stand in the way of them using the gel.

If the puppy has to have teeth removed because they retained their puppy teeth, CBD oil may also help manage the pain while healing from that.

Sometimes traditional medications are too harsh, having too severe side effects or risks, or may not be suitable for all puppies. This is exactly the sort of time when people hear about gentle and natural CBD oil with all of its exciting potential benefits and wonder if it won't be just the answer for their puppy, and it may be.

Scientists have discovered that humans and dogs have an endocannabinoid system, a group of receptors all over the body that make and use their own cannabinoids to maintain the homeostasis of the body. External cannabinoids like cannabidiol work like our own cannabinoids to help the body overcome deficiencies or give it a little boost in times of need.

Cannabidiol is the most prominent, safest, and effective active component of hemp and marijuana. When people talk about the health benefits of either of these plants, thank cannabidiol. CBD oil manufacturers frequently use hemp plants for their cannabidiol so they can extract the large amount of cannabidiol inside and the tiny amount of THC, versus marijuana that contains a large amount of THC, the "high"-causing component, and a small amount of cannabidiol.

One of CBD oil's most popular applications is to help manage pain in humans and pets, and there has been a wealth of scientific studies showing great promise for cannabidiol alleviating pain.

Using CBD Oil

You can choose from many CBD oil products to meet your dog's needs and tastes:

• oil tinctures
• extract concentrates
• capsules
• treats

Extract concentrates and oil tinctures help you achieve the small doses puppies need. Extract concentrate comes out in little beads, so you can measure the beads to reach the proper amount. Oil tinctures come in either a dropper or sprayer and you can measure the drops or sprays. Extract concentrates have no flavoring. They are just cannabidiol, so if your puppy doesn't like the distinctive taste of hemp, you'll have to mask it in a stronger-tasting food or beverage. It is the most cost-effective and purest form of cannabidiol. Oil tinctures contain a carrier oil and often a flavoring to make it easier to take. You can add either product to their food or give it to them directly by mouth. For puppy teething, you could ask your vet if rubbing the CBD oil on the gums would be helpful or advisable.

Capsules and treats may come in too large a dose for your puppy. It depends on the product and the size of the puppy. You could break apart soft CBD oil treats to find the correct dose for your puppy. They are meant to be very much like any other dog treat so they are fun to take.

Dosing CBD Oil

Both treats and capsules tell you on the package what dose is in each piece and how many pieces you can give a dog of a certain size. Puppies are more complicated, because they are smaller than just a small dog and can be a wide variety of sizes.

Because CBD oil dosing requires the consideration of the weight, size, age, and overall health of the puppy, you should speak to your vet about the dose before giving CBD oil to your puppy.

Whatever dose your vet decides on, extract concentrates and oil tinctures will probably be your best bet for finding the exact dose your puppy needs and increasing the dose, if needed, as they grow.

It's also quite handy to have an extract concentrate or oil tincture in the home where you have multiple pets so you can administer appropriate doses to different pets for various ailments.

Risks Associated with CBD Oil

CBD oil is pretty safe. That's why it's growing in popularity as an alternative natural way to address many ailments. But there are some things you should know about to keep your puppy completely safe.

There is no known instance of a CBD oil overdose, but an excessive amount of CBD oil can cause a loss of appetite, diarrhea, and sedation. That is a lot shorter and less scary than the side effect and risk list of most medications, but it is still something you need to know about to protect your puppy.

CBD oil impacts how the liver absorbs medications, making it so doses don't work exactly as expected. All this means is that your vet needs to know about the CBD oil so they can dose any existing or new prescriptions and treatments accordingly.

CBD oils do not have FDA approval yet. While the scientist testing looks great so far, there simply isn't enough of it. This makes CBD oil sort of experimental. Take your puppy to the vet for evaluation before using CBD oil to treat any teething issues and ask for expert advice before giving it to your puppy.

CBD oil is also growing in popularity with vets as well. They are discovering that it can provide help to pets who can't be helped with traditional treatments. So your vet may already be agreeable and knowledgeable about CBD oil, but they also may not. You could call around to find one in your area who is or look for in a holistic vet in or near your area.

Purchasing CBD Oil

Read the following to ensure you are buying the safest and highest-quality product for your puppy.

CBD Isolate versus Full-spectrum

CBD isolate is just cannabidiol while full-spectrum CBD contains cannabidiol as well as other cannabinoids (not THC), terpenes, and nutrients found in the hemp plant. Less studies have been conducted on these other components than have been done on cannabidiol itself, so it is probably not advisable to give full-spectrum CBD oil to your puppy. If you try CBD isolate and it doesn't work or you want the extra nutrients for a puppy in so much teething pain that they can't eat well, you could ask your vet for personalized advice on full-spectrum CBD oil.

Third-party Testing

Disreputable CBD oil manufacturers sell products with poor-quality, too little, or no cannabidiol in them. Reputable manufacturers have their products tested by an outside lab and then display the results on their website so their customers can see for themselves that the products are safe and as described. Check the website of any product you consider purchasing to ensure they post test results, and make sure to read them. As an example, we at Innovet will show you our test results, a page where we include one for each batch of PurCBD+ 125mg.

Origin

A trustworthy CBD oil manufacturer should also tell you where they acquired their hemp. They may grow the hemp and extract the cannabidiol themselves, or they may buy the hemp or the cannabidiol from someone else. Either way is okay as long as you can be sure the hemp was grown in a country with safe growing regulations.

Extraction Method

The CO2 extraction method is the safest and purest option, so look for mention of it on the product's website.

Read the Label

Your CBD oil product should have the fewest ingredients as possible. Concentrates will have only one, tinctures a handful, and capsules and treats only what is necessary to turn cannabidiol into that form and add healthy flavors to treats. Look for a short list, and then research each item to ensure the manufacturer didn't include things that aren't safe enough.

You might make your first CBD oil purchase at Innovet. We meet or exceed all of these criteria.

Innovations from Innovet

It is our pleasure to find creative, eco-friendly solutions to pet problems. You might choose our CBD oil or CBD treats for your puppy teething issues. We also have anti-pest products, eco-friendly poop bags, eye and ear care products that may help you with raising your puppy.

You can also reach out to us if your puppy has needs that aren't addressed with any current treatments and natural alternatives. We are always ready to innovate for a pet with a hard-to-treat ailment.

Sources:

 

Approved by:

Dr. Sara Ochoa

Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, St. Georges University

Sara Redding Ochoa, DVM was raised in north Louisiana. She graduated from LA Tech in 2011 with a degree in animal science. She then moved to Grenada West Indies for veterinary school. She completed her clinical year at Louisiana State University and graduated in 2015 from St. George’s University. Since veterinary school she has been working at a small animal and exotic veterinary clinic in east Texas, where she has experience treating all species that walk in the hospital. In her free time, she likes to travel with her husband Greg, bake yummy desserts and spend time with her 4-legged fur kids, a dog Ruby, a cat Oliver James “OJ”, a rabbit BamBam and a tortoise MonkeyMan.

Thanks for stopping by!

P.S. We Love You!

Sincerely,

The Innovet Team

Please do not ask for emergency or specific medical questions about your pets in the comments. Innovet Pet Products is unable to provide you with specific medical advice or counseling. A detailed physical exam, patient history, and an established veterinarian are required to provide specific medical advice. If you are worried that your pet requires emergency attention or if you have specific medical questions related to your pet’s current or chronic health conditions, please contact or visit your local/preferred veterinarian, an animal-specific poison control hotline, or your local emergency veterinary care center.

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