You usually keep your dentures in a closed container, but last night, you were tired and forgot. As a consequence, your dog ran off with your dentures. Then they swallowed them. Is your dog okay?
If your dog eats your dentures, you need to take your dog to the veterinarian’s office immediately. Should your dog only munch on but not swallow the dentures, you should clean the dentures and then see your dentist if the false teeth are cracked.
Although a dog getting into dentures sounds like a comical scenario ripped straight out of the screenplay pages of a sitcom, it can and does happen. You need to be prepared if it does, so make sure you keep reading!
My Dog Chewed on My Dentures – What Do I Do?
Your dog loves a good chew. When they’re munching on a bone or a hard toy, you have no problem with that, but it’s completely different when it’s your dentures.
Fortunately, you were able to catch your dog in the act and get your dentures back right away, so you don’t think they caused that much damage.
What do you do following this situation? Here’s what we recommend.
Disinfect Your Dentures
Some dog owners have no qualms about letting their dogs lick their faces while others are skeeved out by it.
Even if you don’t mind doggy kisses, there’s a huge difference between your dog licking you with its tongue and you sharing something in your mouth that was in your dog’s mouth such as your dentures.
You cannot just reinsert the dentures like the whole incident never happened. Well, you could, but it’s not advisable.
Instead, it’s time to bust out the nonabrasive denture cleaner that you should already have handy. Grab a soft-bristled brush as well.
Make sure that you scrub between every tooth and in every crevice, nook, and cranny. You do not want to miss a single area.
According to the American Kennel Club, dogs have over 600 unique types of bacteria in their mouths while humans have 615 kinds.
Even still, you don’t want all that bacteria intermingling. It can’t be good for your health.
Call Your Dentist
Once you’ve sufficiently cleaned your dentures, we still don’t recommend that you reinsert them into your mouth quite yet.
First, you should call your dentist and ask for their opinion.
Explain that your dog got into your dentures, and chewed on the faux teeth a bit, but that you found the dentures intact and cleaned them.
Your dentist may recommend throwing the dentures away for hygienic reasons. If not that, then they’ll offer you a few cleaning suggestions that you should follow in the letter.
Then Call Your Vet
Even though your dog didn’t swallow your dentures in this case, they did spend several minutes chewing on the hard dentures. You worry about the risk to your dog’s teeth.
Plus, your dog could have accidentally swallowed some of the denture adhesive, which is also concerning.
It’s a good idea to call your dog’s vet after hanging up with your dentist to see what the vet advises.
They might tell you to bring your dog in just to be on the safe side.
If not, then they may suggest that you monitor your pup for any adverse side effects and then bring the dog in if those symptoms manifest.
Get Your Dentures Repaired
The bite force of your average canine is enough that your faux pearly whites could have been chipped, cracked, or even shattered if your puppy spent long enough gnawing on the dentures.
If so, then you’ll have to go back to your dentist.
The dentist can repair minor damage by gluing any apparent cracks and filling in the gaps.
If a few teeth are unsalvageable, the dentist can seamlessly replace the teeth and you won’t be able to tell the difference.
However, if enough of the faux teeth are severely damaged, then your dentist might recommend new dentures. This is going to put a hurt on your wallet, but it’s what has to be done.
My Dog Ate and Swallowed All or Parts of My Dentures – Now What?
Let’s say that the situation is a little more severe. Rather than just grab your dentures and chew on them a little bit, your dog decided to make your dentures into a midday snack.
In other words, they ate your dentures.
You’re feeling rightfully panicked and aren’t quite sure how to handle this situation. What do you do?
Stay Calm
It’s easy to freak out, but all you’re going to do is scare your dog and make it harder to leash them up or put them in a crate, so try to take a deep breath and stay calm.
If there are any parts of your dentures left to recover, then please do that. However, if nothing is left because your dog ingested everything, then so be it.
Take Your Dog to the Vet
We talked in the last section about denture adhesive, which your dog probably swallowed a lot of.
Denture adhesive contains sodium saccharin (a sweetener), flavors, colorants, silica (a thickener), petrolatum (for a creamy consistency), mineral oil (also for consistency), cellulose gum (for sticking), and zinc or calcium (also for sticking).
While none of the ingredients are dangerous, per se, they’re not edible, either. Thus, you don’t want denture cream in your dog’s system.
The risk of your pup swallowing dentures goes deeper than that. The hard dentures, especially if they’re cracked, can also potentially cut up your dog’s throat, stomach, or intestines on the way down and out.
It’s for all these reasons that you need to take your dog to a vet immediately if they’ve eaten your dentures.
If your regular vet isn’t open, then go to the emergency vet. You do not want to wait until tomorrow to get this addressed, but right now.
Your vet can help the dog regurgitate what’s left of the dentures so the dentures can’t cause any (further) internal damage.
Your dog should also throw up the denture adhesive so that doesn’t linger in their system.
Your vet can evaluate your dog for any adverse symptoms and prescribe treatment if need be.
Call Your Dentist
Once you’re sure that your dog is in good health, then we would once again caution you to call your dentist.
They will walk you through the protocol of how to clean your dentures so they’re safe to put in your mouth after your dog slobbered all over them.
Well, if your dentures are salvageable at all, that is.
Get Your Dentures Repaired or Replaced
Even if your dentures came out in mostly one piece, you might feel really weird about putting the dentures in your mouth considering they went through your dog’s entire body (pretty much).
That’s perfectly fair! You’re free to get rid of those dentures and request that your dentist make you another set.
How to Keep Your Dog Away from Your Dentures
You got through the ordeal of your dog eating your dentures. You’ve since gotten a new pair.
You’d prefer that your dog not get into these dentures either, so what can you do?
That’s simple.
Your dentures come in a closed container. If the dentures aren’t in your mouth, then they should be in that container.
Make sure the container stays closed as well.
We’re not saying that denture adhesive is an appealing smell to your dog, but canines are curious animals. If they see your denture case open, they might want to sniff around for what’s inside.
To be on the ultra-safe side, it’s not a bad idea to store your dentures overnight where your dog can never reach them such as high up on a shelf or in a closed medicine cabinet.
Conclusion
If your dog eats your dentures, it doesn’t have to be the end of the world. You should recover the false teeth from your dog unless they swallowed the dentures.
In that case, then you must bring your dog to the vet to get the dentures expelled immediately. Then you can talk to your dentist about cleaning and repairing the dentures.
In some instances–especially if your dog swallowed the dentures and they came out on the other side–replacing them is the best solution.
Related Reading:
What To Do If Your Cavapoo Is A Picky Eater
Are Cavapoos Good Family Dogs? (With Pros and Cons)
Do Cavapoo Dogs Make Good Apartment Dogs?
Is It Dangerous For Puppy To Swallow Their Baby Teeth?
Is It Dangerous If a Dog Swallows a Human Tooth?
