[maddy6]

Sorry if I am blasting questions at you guys every day:-) we are so glad we found this site :-)
Anyway, my son just noticed while petting our long haired teacup chihuahua that he has missing teeth. He has all of his top teeth, but on the bottom he has a long gum line and then 1 tooth only on the right side. The left bottom side has 3 teeth and lots of gum line too. The vet, nor anyone else, has ever mentioned anything. He is a very picky eater. So can anyone give me any guidance on if this is normal for this breed? Are there any other concerns, and of course the obvious? I have never had a dog have missing teeth before.

[Alty]

How old is he Maddy? Is he a young dog?

Can you post a picture?

Chi's have a very odd gumline, so this may be normal for his breed, but without a picture, or being able to see your dog, I really wouldn't be able to guess by what you described.

Does his mouth seem to be bothering him? How is his appetite, despite being a picky eater?

Are the gums swollen?

On a side note, we don't mind questions. After all, that's why we're here, so keep them coming. :)

[Lucky098]

Small breed dogs are notorious for having trash mouths..

Its very likely that the teeth abscessed and fell out over time... especially if you got the dog as a rescue at an older age.

If you've had the dog all its life.. and never noticed the dog not wanting to chew on things... than I would say that this is a birth defect and the dog never actually developed the teeth.. small breed dogs won't develop teeth due to over crowding.

[shazamataz]

You should see inside my dogs mouth, he doesn't have any of his pre-molars and he's missing a canine tooth lol. Toy breeds are notorious for having bad teeth and teacups (which are basically the runt of the litter) I imagine would be more prone to it.
The breed I have basically has a faulty gene that causes hairlessness, and that same gene that control the hair roots controls the roots of the teeth as well.

If it doesn't cause any problems then there's nothing to worry about, if he's still eating normally and the remaining teeth are clean then they could have been missing all along or have fallen out.

At dog shows some judges don't even bother looking in toy dogs mouths because often their teeth are all over the place. Breeds like terriers where dentition is vital to the job they were bred for judges are adamant about perfect teeth, but toys dogs where many were bred as companion dogs, they don't bother as much.

[maddy6]

Thank you Alty, Lucky098, and Shazamataz, that information helps a lot. Alty, we took pics (as best we could), don't know how much they will help. I can't load them on the IPad but will get them loaded later so you can see.
We have had him since a pup. He was my 22 yo daughter's and she passed away unexpectedly less than a year after getting him. So he is our "grand dog," and we are raising him :-). I will post a pic so you can see later, but he has a floating eye, and he is bow legged also. Poor baby :-) my daughter's friend purchased him for her at the pet store in the mall. So please forgive my ignorance, but are those the pups that come from puppy mills when they are in pet stores? Anyway, he is full bred and has the sweetest temperament. He is practically perfect when it comes to behavior and sweetness :-) but we can't help but laugh at his physical features sometimes when he stands there looking like a cowboy with bowlegs :-)
Do you all think that his picky eating is affected by his teeth? He will eat his dry food when he finally cannot pilfer 'people food' from anyone in the kitchen :-) but only after he has held out long enough in hopes of getting chicken. At one point my husband was buying rotisserie chickens just for him cause he would not eat. We finally realized that was NOT good and stopped and made him eat dry food. I went to Woof Gang Store last week and got samples to try to find something he will eat. So far we are striking out. He WILL eat dry food, but only after he has to.

[Lucky098]

Try soaking the food. Hes probably reluctant to eat because it hurts. Our food, especially meats, are soft.