And the winner is...

I feel like the world's worst dog owner. Between our small animal dentistry lecture in Surgery and the Hill's lunch lecture on dental health, I have been scared into taking better care of my animals' teeth. So, Saturday has become tooth-brushing day. I learned at the Hill's lunch that brushing once a week is pretty much worthless because plaque builds up in like hours, but it's got to be better than nothing. I can't brush their teeth every day.

Anyway, we just started last week. Yesterday was day 2. I took a closer look at Kaya's teeth yesterday, and saw something that looked like a little calculus build-up. Lo and behold, I was wrong, and she has an upper fourth premolar fracture, exactly why we've been warned against letting our pets chew on Nylabones. Our Surgery teacher said they were fine for heavy chewers, which Kaya tends to be, but the Hill's guy said you shouldn't let your dog chew on anything you can't bend over your knee. Looks like he was right. I have no idea how long it's been there.

I first cried, because this is what I do. I know it's nothing life-threatening, but I feel so guilty for not noticing it for however long it's been there. I also feel bad for letting her chew on Nylabones, although I didn't even know until recently that she shouldn't be doing that. Guilt is not a reasonable emotion, however.

Once I got over that, I emailed our Surgery instructor to find out what my options are. I pretty much need to bring her into school no matter what, because even if we go with a "simple" tooth extraction, the upper fourth premolar has three roots, and it's not an easy extraction. I would feel better having it done at the school. We do have some alternatives to discuss, which is another reason to take her to the school.

It all depends on how bad the damage is. If the fractured slab is external (not in the pulp of the tooth) they can just remove it and clean it up. If it is into the root they can do a root canal (which is really three root canals) and then put a crown on it. The root canal alone would be about $900. I don't really care about the money. I can take out a little more loan money for the semester to cover what I decide to do. I just want to do what's best for her.

I need to talk to someone about recovery from extraction vs. getting a crown. I know getting a crown requires being put under anesthesia twice--once for the root canal and impression, and once for the crown. I want to know how long a crown can be expected to last (i.e., will we be replacing it in three years). Lots of questions.

I know that at this point the fracture is no longer painful because the slab is dead, but I can't believe we wouldn't have noticed the initial pain. Which makes me wonder if it's even remotely possible this has been in existence for the almost-year we've had her. Which then leads me to wonder how we never noticed it and neither did the vet during her physicals if that is the case. *sigh* I know I need to stop beating myself up over this, because all I can do is give her the best treatment possible, but it's hard. I hold myself to a higher standard than the average pet owner, even though a lot of this stuff we are just learning for the first time.

I suppose in a way I should be glad, because if we hadn't just learned this at school, I might not have started brushing her teeth and might not have even found it until it abscessed out her nose or something awful and gross like that.

Poor Kaya.