hypertrophic gums

[shells]

does anyone have any experience with hypertrophic gums? i had a consultation with one of the vets at the vet office and i was not reassurred by her answers. she insists that it is not necessary to cut gums (which in my opinion sounds absolutely horrific) until the teeth begin to rot. my opinion is that the gums should be cut when they begin to endanger the teeth - before they start to rot. Tyler's front teeth are slowly disappearing under his gums, and i can now only see the top of 2 of his teeth. i am not happy about the thought of having to cut his gums, but at the same time, i do not want his teeth to be endangered. please help! should i go to another vet or get a second opinion?

 

[GoCougs]

Hypertrophic gums, or more commonly known as "gingival hyperplasia", is a very common condition in boxers. Your vets diagnosis, and resulting recommendation are fairly spot on. This isn't a condition which will terminate after surgery. You can certainly get the gum tissue surgically removed or "lasered" off, but you will find it will reoccur.

So, you can opt for surgery, or you can just treat the tooth decay that can result from it. There is a good chance that you will have to deal with the later even if you opt for the former.

 

[Tasha]

gum tissue

Do you give your dogs bones to chew on? Nylabones or the really white 5-6 inch leg bones at the pet store, or baked soup bones ? Alot of times chewing on hard bones will keep their gums in better shape. If they don't like the bones boil them in boulion cubes and water for flavor.

 

[cherylynn]

I had one of my dog's gums cut away. I mainly chose the surgery because he was getting sick from infection caused from the overgrowth. It was so bad at one point his breath smelled like rotten fish from across the room. We decided it would be best to keep the infection down. It was giving him tummy problems. He recovered from the surgery very quickly, within a few days and did not seem to be in much pain at all.