Rogz Grinz, Red

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By John Lewis, VMD, FAVD, DAVDC Figures 1A (above) and 1B (below): Examples of appropriate patients for ball/toy therapy. A) Class 1 malocclusion (linguoversion) of tooth #704 in a 10-week-old golden doodle. B) Mild Class 2 malocclusion in a 5.5-month-old mixed-breed dog. AddThis sets this geolocation cookie to help understand the location of users who share the information.

The most authoritative text on the subject is found here. Verhaert L 1999 Journal of Veterinary Dentistry 16: 2, 69-75.For crown reduction of mature teeth, total pulpectomy with root canal treatment can be considered because the long-term prognosis is better than vital pulp treatment. Root canal treatment also requires less frequent radiographic monitoring than vital pulp therapy. These are advanced procedures and these cases should usually be referred. The best type of balls to use are quite dense but have some give. Things like tennis balls are too “squishy” and do not give enough resistance, and so minimal force is applied to the teeth. A good density is something like the rubber used in Kongs (TM) . If it is an appropriate size – not too big, not too small, but just right! – the ball will place a lateral tipping force on the mandibular canines as it is carried around.

Add a rope, handle, or tail to a dog ball, and what do you get? A projectile! Similar to a handheld ball launcher, this type of toy is ideal for pet parents who want the leverage for a farther throw or want to mix things up with a game of tug-of-war. Ready to diversify your stash with classic rubber balls, squeakies, spikes, lights, and more? Let’s play ball!The direct link between genetics and malocclusion has not been established, but the fact that some cases of malocclusion occur more in some breeds than others is a very strong indication of an underlying genetic relationship. Even though persistent deciduous teeth are considered the most important cause of malocclusion, they appear to be more common in certain breeds and could therefore have a genetic association. Pet parents like that the toy doesn’t require any batteries but do say this option is quite noisy—something to consider if you or your pup is sound sensitive (or you work from home). The advantage of this procedure is that the whole of the root and the majority of the crown remain. The strength and integrity of the lower jaw is not weakened by the procedure and long term results are very good due to the use of Mineral Trioxide Aggregate as a direct pulp dressing. The next best time to start this treatment is as soon as the adult canine teeth have broken through the gingiva and the primary canine teeth have exfoliated or been removed. Typically, this is around 5 to 5.5 months of age. It is far easier to encourage the erupting teeth to go where we want them to be than to move teeth once they have finished erupting, so timing is important here.