Why, when and how to successfully extract a deciduous tooth

In the early years of the author's career in general small animal practice, deciduous teeth were normally only extracted if they persisted in a patient up to the time of routine neutering. If such a tooth was noted at induction, usually a canine (Figure 1), the veterinarian would ask for a luxator, and a closed extraction would be attempted with varying levels of success. To this day, conversations that the author has with veterinarians and nurses who are not immersed in the world of veterinary dentistry suggest that this is common. For some veterinarians, and certainly for a lot of owners and breeders, the idea of extracting a tooth that should soon be exfoliating is unclear. This article addresses this and gives veterinarians the confidence to know why, when and how to extract deciduous teeth.

In normal circumstances, deciduous teeth are only present in a puppy's mouth for a few months. These teeth are fully developed at birth and begin to erupt at around 4 weeks of age, starting with the incisors (Sharpe et al, 2019). By the time puppies are 12 weeks of age, they should have the full complement of 28 deciduous teeth with the dental formula: 2 x (I3/I3, C1/C1, P3/P3).