A Canine is a Canine without a Canine

Well, the tooth fairy has come and gone.  She certainly did not leave money, as all the money was left at the vet's office.

Lucy's dental surgery went much, much smoother than planned, but not for the "right" reasons.  Seems she has so much dental disease that the tooth in question basically fell right out with barely a tug.  This, the tooth that was supposed to require cutting and cracking and all sorts of surgical motions.  Ploop! Out it came, all in one piece.  Although good for her healing, a bad sign in regards to dental health.

In case you are wondering, yes I got to keep the tooth. Why, there is it, right in front of Lucy's drugged eyes.  ("Dude, that tooth is soooo gnarly.")

I am sad to report that another tooth was removed (with nary a pull) and a whole boatload are hanging on by the.....well, by the skin of their teeth. "We could have pulled out that other really loose one...several right here are loose."  The hope is that all that dental cleaning will fix the gums, which will save the teeth.....time will tell.

While talking to the vet about how "easy" the tooth came out, I asked if the vet if still had the tooth.  She brightened right before my very eyes and exclaimed, "Yes! Would you like to see it?"  She seemed genuinely intrigued by my question.  The vet scooted to the back office and returned quickly with the carnassial in hand.  I held the bloody poor-excuse for a tooth in my palm and inquired, "Can I keep this?"  She laughed and indicated that it was all mine as, "well, you paid for it!"

In the meantime, our kitchen counter has become "money pit central:"

Lucy has three different meds, special water drops and special treats that I am told are designed to remove tartar.  I had to create a written schedule because I couldn't keep up with when I was supposed to be giving her each of the meds.  Thankfully, this regiment will only be in place for one week; from there, it's no more meds but does include the special water, special treats AND daily tooth brushing.  Freckles has three kinds of eye meds, of which I will only have to use one kind once the boogers are fully cleared.  (I haven't broken it to her that this will be for the rest of her life--well, unless a doggie miracle happens, which might happen....one can hope.) Even though she's blind in that eye, she can see me coming.  It's tough to get that little sausage out from under the bed.

I feel absolutely horrible about the state of Lucy's mouth.  The pain she must have been in and we had no clue.  The wife and I have been doing a lot of research (hindsight is foresight) and everything we read suggests that Lucy had to have been in much pain.  Since she never missed a meal, remained happy and perky and never gave a sign, we had no idea.  What a trooper.  It is easy to see she is in pain now, as she looks sad, whimpers just a wee bit now and then, and has a pained expression, if you can believe that.  She never looked like that before surgery.  The only sign was her horrible breath. I am so, so, so sorry, beloved Bark of Poteidaia.

The good news is she is still eating like a pig.  Like her mama, she's never missed a meal.

I think I've figured out what happened with her teeth.  It's really bothered me, as she eats dry kibble and chews bones and does all those things I thought were good for her teeth. (Well, besides not brushing her teeth I thought I was doing all the right things.) Why Freckles' teeth remain fine and Lucy's don't really perplexed me.  But, at 3 AM, when I was sleeping on the couch with Lucy and I was staring at her, it dawned on me:

She always sleeps with a toy in her mouth:

Here she is this morning, demonstrating this habit she has had since her earliest of days.

My tenure in the dental world and my interest in oral hygiene should have alerted me to the potential for horrible tooth decay as related to this habit.  If you sleep with something in your mouth all night (and, whenever you take a nap), your mouth dries out.  A dry mouth is VERY bad for your teeth and is very good for developing gum disease.  Sigh.

At 3:01 AM, I removed the toy from her mouth, thinking "better late than never," with ambitions of breaking her of this harmful habit right there and then.  At 3:02 AM, she hopped off the couch, went and got another toy and quickly went back to sleep.  Sigh.

One thing at a time, baby Jesus.  First, I'll focus on finishing up the meds.  Second, I'll work on the tooth brushing.  Third, I'll work on breaking this "sleeping with toy in mouth" habit...... 

.....finally, I'll beat the crap out of the tooth fairy if she heads this way again any time soon.  You have been warned.