Hole In Bottom Of Mouth

[Guest arlosmom]

Recently my senior girl had her teeth cleaned. She had a week of antibiotic prior. She had a canine, a molar and a wisdom tooth removed. For about a week after her mouth smelled so much better, then it started smelling again. After about three weeks my husband looked in her mouth and saw the stitches from removal of the canine were still there. We had also notice brown bloody drool on occassion. He took her back to the vet and they clipped the stitched but discovered she had a hole in the bottom of her mouth under her tongue. She did not think it was a cancer. She said it was not there when she cleaned the teeth and thought maybe Orla had chewed on something that had poked a hole in her mouth. Someone is with her all the time even when she is outside. I don't think she punched a hole in her mouth chewing on something. Was it there before and was missed? It is near where the molar was removed but not actually in that spot. I think it is an abcess of some sort. If the antibiotics don't clear it up in 10 days. I plan on getting it cultured. What could this be? Any body with a guess. Thanks.

Edited November 23, 2010 by arlosmom

[macoduck]

That is odd, Debbie. Any chance it could be an infected salivary gland?

[Guest greybookends]

I'll be curious to find out what it is as well! Really strange.

[Guest kydie]

healing of the mouth is a tricky thing,,, and infection is high even on an antibiotic,,,, in people when a tooth is removed you know when the area is not healing properly,,, I would think this is an area that opened up to let the infection drain out ,,, and more, different antibiotics are needed,,, often for more than 10 days,,,, good luck,,,,, keep us posted

[Guest arlosmom]

That is odd, Debbie. Any chance it could be an infected salivary gland?

Don't really have any clue but hopefully the meds will straighten it up. You know how it is with things like this, it will probably stay a mystery.

 

healing of the mouth is a tricky thing,,, and infection is high even on an antibiotic,,,, in people when a tooth is removed you know when the area is not healing properly,,, I would think this is an area that opened up to let the infection drain out ,,, and more, different antibiotics are needed,,, often for more than 10 days,,,, good luck,,,,, keep us posted

Thanks, the antibiotics she is on are good for mouth infections according to our vet but if they aren't working in 10 days I will definately ask for something different and ask for a culture as well. Maybe it was from that tooth that came out and the infection just chose a nother location to drain.

[silverfish]

Yes, fistulas can form after any wound, and take the form of a draining 'hole', which usually leads to the source of the infection - maybe in this case, a tooth socket. She definitely needs some good broad-spectrum antibiotics if this is the case, but if/when you get them, ask the vet for some sachets (or capsules) of probiotic to give her at the same time. Some of the heavy duty antibiotics can wipe out gut flora causing intractable, bloody, diarrhoea, especially in an old dog, and it's better to prevent trouble than try to cure it. They're not expensive, and even if she doesn't actually need them, they won't hurt her in the slightest.

[Guest arlosmom]

Update, after 10 days, the hole has healed some but not all the way. The vet changed the antibiotic to amoxi for 10 more days. She thinks now that it might be a tooth that appears to not be infected in any way. ( is not loose, discolored or has an irrated gum around it.) She is thinking that she might need to pull that tooth although it appears healthy. I really do not want her to do this. I would rather try one more round of antibiotics with a probiotic if I have to than sedate her again. She is eating like crazy so I know her mouth does not hurt. It just smells and she has that discusting drool. Any more thoughts?

[silverfish]

Update, after 10 days, the hole has healed some but not all the way. The vet changed the antibiotic to amoxi for 10 more days. She thinks now that it might be a tooth that appears to not be infected in any way. ( is not loose, discolored or has an irrated gum around it.) She is thinking that she might need to pull that tooth although it appears healthy. I really do not want her to do this. I would rather try one more round of antibiotics with a probiotic if I have to than sedate her again. She is eating like crazy so I know her mouth does not hurt. It just smells and she has that discusting drool. Any more thoughts?

 

Hmm. We had a large, solid carnassial tooth taken out of Jack's mouth because the vet decided it 'was probably' responsible for his eye problems (the roots of the upper back teeth reach pretty much up to the eye socket). It made absolutely no difference except to give the poor old guy one less tooth to chew on.

 

Can you take him to a doggy dentist? We don't have them over here, or I'd have taken Jack to one first. If you do, perhaps they can x-ray the roots to see what's going on, as human dentists do before they yank teeth?

 

Or maybe take him to a specialist centre or vet school. Personally, I will no longer do the 'let's see if ... ' surgery without good reason. But on the other hand, you need to get to the bottom of a problem like this.

 

Sorry, not much help, am I?

[tbhounds]

2nd vote for a dentist. They will be able to perform digital dental radiographs. Never, ever hurts to get a 2nd opinion. I would hate to see your pup go under and have a tooth pulled if it truly wasn't needed. Also, veterinary dentists have seen many oral lesions--perhaps this is something they have seen before.

[Guest BiancasMom]

3rd vote for dental radiographs. It should be rather obvious after looking at the xray if the tooth is the culprit. Teeth can appear very healthy above the gumline when there are horrible things going on under!

[carronstar]

4th vote for a dentist.

 

I have found one Veterinary Dental Specialist listed for North Carolina (there are only 55 certified surgeons in the country): William V. Krug @ North Carolina State University @ 4700 Hillsborough Street.

 

Good luck!

[Saharasmom]

One vote for doing a culture of the wound if this round of meds don't help. Sahara had a slow-to-heal wound on her elbow. After many rounds of antibiotics, the vet cultured it. We found she had a staph infection that was resistant to all but one form of antibiotics.

 

ETA: I hope she feels better soon!

Edited November 24, 2010 by Saharasmom