Click here to visit the most complete Maltese site on the WWW

Archived Message

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
by Connie

My nine month maltese is in the process of getting his adult teeth. I was wondering if I should pull his teeth out if the baby teeth do not fall out any time soon.

DISCUSSION:

Teeth and the structure of the bite are very important to us show breeders. Consequently most of us watch them like a hawk. Most breeders end up having to have extra teeth pulled at sometime. I know some people that pull all the baby teeth at 5-6 months of age hoping to coax them into a good bite. I don't do this and I'm not sure what some of the other breeders on the list do about this (we all have our unigue opinions on things). I typically like to let nature do the work herself. What I do first is watch the incisors (the 6 upper & lower front theeth) as they come in first. You can usually gently wiggle this with your finger and help mother nature along a litte, especially to encourage a nice straight bite. Canines come in next. I have found that more than half my Maltese have needed to have one or more canines extracted by the vet. And frequently they also need the first molar (right behind the canines) also taken out. Usually my dogs have lost the canines by 8 months and I can't wiggle them at all it's off to the vet for help. I have also found that I tend to have more of a problem with retained baby teeth with the smaller Maltese. I would suspect that if your Maltese still has a double row of teeth by 9 months of age a visit to the vet for advice would be called for. Good luck,
Bobbie

Connie,It never occurred to me that "nature" wouldn't take care of a thing like a changeover in teeth. However, Lucy had to have two of her baby teeth pulled by the vet; they just hung in there after her adult teeth came in. So if I were you, I'd let the vet take a look.
Cathy Brown