A missing tooth in a dog or cat
A gap where a tooth should be is not always harmless. The tooth may never have formed, or it may have stayed in the bone unerupted or left a root behind. From the outside these situations look the same, and they can only be told apart on dental X-rays.
Important note for owners
An unerupted tooth may cause no visible signs for a long time, but a dentigerous (follicular) cyst sometimes forms around it and slowly destroys the jaw bone. So a missing tooth is a reason for dental X-rays, even if your pet seems perfectly well.
Most common possible causes
- —Unerupted tooth. The tooth has formed but stayed in the bone or under the gum. Teeth often stay unerupted in small and short-nosed (brachycephalic) breeds, especially the lower first premolars (305/405) — dentigerous cysts most often form around these.
- —Delayed eruption. Teeth change from roughly 3–4 to 6–7 months, and a single permanent tooth may come through a little later. But if the neighbouring permanent teeth have already erupted and this one hasn't, X-rays are worth taking without waiting until 6–7 months.
- —Congenitally absent tooth (hypodontia). The tooth never formed. It needs no treatment, but this can only be confirmed on X-rays.
- —Tooth lost or extracted earlier. The tooth may have fallen out because of periodontal disease or resorption, or been extracted before your pet came to you.
- —Fractured tooth: the root left under the gum. The crown broke off, but the root stayed in the bone and the gum closed over it. Such a root can become a source of inflammation.
When not to postpone an exam
- ✓In a puppy or kitten, the neighbouring permanent teeth have erupted but this one hasn't, or it is still missing at 6–7 months
- ✓An adult pet has a gap you cannot explain
- ✓After 6–7 months a baby (deciduous) tooth is still in place, with no permanent tooth next to it
- ✓Swelling or a bump on the gum at the gap
- ✓Discharge or a bad smell from that area
- ✓An unerupted tooth was found before, but no follow-up X-rays were taken
Urgent help needed
- ✓Rapidly increasing swelling of the face, cheek or under the eye
- ✓Complete refusal of food and water
- ✓An injury to the face or jaw, and your pet cannot open or close its mouth normally
- ✓A sudden deterioration in general condition
What you can do at home
- ✓Count the teeth using the chart on this page and note which one is missing: right or left, upper or lower.
- ✓Lift the lip, photograph the gap from the side and write down your pet's age — for puppies and kittens this matters.
- ✓Recall or find records of previous extractions, injuries and dental X-rays.
- ✓You can send the photos for an online consultation on Telegram to judge urgency, but only X-rays show whether there is anything in the bone.
What not to do at home
- —Don't wait for the tooth to “grow in later” if the neighbouring teeth have erupted or your pet is already 6–7 months old
- —Don't press on a bump or swelling on the gum, and don't try to puncture it
- —Don't assume the gap is normal just because your pet eats well: a cyst usually grows unnoticed
- —Don't give leftover antibiotics from a previous illness or human painkillers
- —Don't draw conclusions from a photo alone — it doesn't show the bone
What diagnostics may be needed
- ✓Consultation: counting the teeth, assessing the gum at the gap and the bite
- ✓Dental X-rays of the gap — an essential step, taken under anaesthesia
- ✓Full-mouth dental radiography, because there may be more than one unerupted tooth
- ✓With a large cyst, a CT scan may be needed to assess its extent; after removal, the cyst tissue is examined to confirm the diagnosis
The gum over an unerupted tooth looks exactly like the gum where there is no tooth at all. A cyst grows inside the bone and may not change the look of the gum for a long time. Whether there is anything in the jaw can only be seen on dental X-rays.
Unfamiliar term in the diagnosis?If the report mentions TR, FCGS, pulpitis or a periodontal stage, the glossary explains each term briefly.GlossaryHow treatment may proceed
- ✓If the tooth is truly absent, no treatment is needed
- ✓Unerupted tooth: surgical extraction together with the cyst lining, if there is one; the earlier, the less bone is lost
- ✓If the tooth is held back only by thick gum tissue and its root has not yet finished forming, operculectomy — removing the gum over the tooth — sometimes helps; the decision is made only on X-rays
- ✓Retained root: extraction
- ✓If monitoring is chosen, a plan of follow-up X-rays; I decide on the approach only after X-rays
Related services
Related clinical case
Unerupted canine tooth with only 0.3 mm of bone: a complex extraction in a dog
View case →Similar symptoms
Related articles
Frequently asked questions
Not necessarily: dogs change their teeth from roughly 3–4 to 6–7 months, and a single tooth may come through later. But if the neighbouring permanent teeth have erupted and this one hasn't, dental X-rays are worth taking without waiting until 6–7 months: if the tooth is stuck in the bone, it is better to decide in good time.
No. A cyst does not form around every unerupted tooth, but there is no way to predict it from the outside. So such a tooth is either extracted or monitored according to a clear plan with follow-up X-rays.
A cyst around an unerupted tooth usually grows painlessly, gradually destroying the jaw bone and the roots of neighbouring teeth. The larger the cyst, the more complex the surgery, so it is better to decide after X-rays rather than after symptoms appear.
A photo shows only the gums and the visible crowns. It helps at an online consultation to judge how urgently an examination is needed, but whether there is a tooth or a cyst in the bone can only be seen on dental X-rays.
Ask Luna about your case
Briefly describe what you see — Luna will suggest whether to book and what to prepare.