It’s been a while since our last case study, but we recently saw another interesting one last week.
Prim is a one year old longhair chihuahua who came to the clinic because she’d been having some difficulty eating her hard kibble. She didn’t act like she was in pain, but she was eating a little slower than normal. Upon examination, it was noted she had several missing teeth and a few of her teeth were misaligned. No other abnormalities were found during the physical exam. We… recommended she come in for a dental exploratory.
Prim was placed under general anesthesia so we could take dental radiographs and explore her mouth further. Initially, it appeared as though she had some grass stuck between a couple of her lower teeth and gingiva. After taking radiographs and taking a closer look at that area, we determined it was a carpet staple wedged between her teeth. The staple was easily removed with a forceps. Prim occasionally would chew on the carpet when her owners were gone which is likely how the staple got wedged between her teeth.
Before
The staple
After