A malocclusion is simply a misalignment of the teeth and can be dental or skeletal in nature. Malocclusions can be either genetic or caused by trauma, nutrition, disease or retention of deciduous (baby) teeth.
A malocclusion can develop at any time during the three stages of a canine's dental development.
The first stage of the canine's dental development lasts from birth to 16 weeks. The pup will be born with a very slight overbite that allows it to nurse and correct itself shortly after the time it has stopped nursing. At about four weeks, the deciduous (baby) teeth will begin to erupt. By the time the pup has reached 16 weeks, the mandible should grow almost proportionately to its adult jaw length. If this growth spurt does not occur, then the teeth probably will not grow in correctly and a malocclusion will occur.
The second stage is from four to seven months of age. During this time, a pup will shed the deciduous teeth and permanent teeth will replace them. One should check carefully to ensure that no deciduous teeth have been retained. It is also at this time that there can be rapid growth rates and dental locks can occur.
During the third stage from 7 months -18 months, one deals with anterior cross bites, overcrowding, tooth rotation, etc., at this point, many problems can still be overcome.
There are several types of malocclusions. Malocclusions can be barely noticeable or so severe that they affect your animals health. In order to correct a malocclusion, it must be detected early.
Canines are born with an overshot jaw. This allows them to nurse. In most instances, a slight overbite self-corrects by the time a pup is a few weeks old and begins to eat solid foot. However, for those that don't, this condition should be watched carefully and medical help should be sought. Extraction of some teeth may be necessary.
When the jaws meet in all other ways and the lower jaw is simply longer - this may be the correct position for a breed. This should be checked for the breed standards of a particular dog.
This is the most common of all malocclusions and is not considered hereditary in nature. Anterior crossbites can be linked to truama, retention of deciduous teeth, nutrition, or disease.
This condition is rare and appears mainly in large nosed dogs.
This is genetic and cannot be easily fixed.
This is due to retained baby teeth when permanent teeth grow in at an angle and damage the roof of the mouth.
Malocclusion in the jaws of captive bred Arctic wolves, Canis lupus arctos
Links to Canine Teeth and Gum Problems
The deciduous (baby) teeth are shed and replaced with permanent teeth beginning at about four months of age beginning with the incisors and canines. These are followed by the molars and premolars. This process continues until a a wolfdog reached around 7 or 8 months of age.
Normally the root of a temporary tooth is pushed out as a permanent tooth grows in. When all goes as it should, the ligaments holding the deciduous tooth are weekend as the permanent tooth pushes it out, and proper diet will help to dislodge the tooth. However, in some instances the permanent tooth will glance off to the side and come in at an angle leaving both teeth to share the same socket and ligaments. When this happens, it can cause a multitude of periodontal problems, one of which can be a malocclusion.
Another problem that sometimes happens is called dental interlock. Dental interlock occurs when one set of teeth block or lock out the growth of the other jaw.