Back in November, I had a long post about a procedure our internal medicine specialist was doing to open the mouth on Travis, our dog with a fused jaw from masticatory myositis. As I explained then, the purpose was to be able to intubate him for anesthesia for a lengthy dental he desperately needed. We had earlier taken Travis to see board-certified veterinary dental specialists at Veterinary Dental Services in Massachusetts. The veterinary dentist there, Dr. Diane Carle, consulted with our internal medicine specialist in Burlington, Dr. Marielle Goossens of Peak Veterinary Referral Center, and together they developed the plan for Travis.
With his mouth now open enough for the tube, I drove Travis to the veterinary dental clinic last Friday for his oral surgery. I took that photo above of Dr. Carle working on Travis. This was a major deal: He was under anesthesia for 7 hours and 40 minutes. She ended up having to extract all of his teeth except his canines and upper incisor teeth.
Many of his teeth were odd sizes and shapes; some molars in the back angled horizontally into the center of his mouth, rather than coming straight up out of the gums. Other teeth were also at weird angles. It's almost as if the masticatory myositis struck him while he was still a puppy and before his adult teeth came in; with his upper and lower jaws shut tight against each other, the adult teeth had nowhere to go when they came in, and thus angled out as they grew, looking for the path of least resistance. That's just a theory; we'll never know for sure because we don't have any history on Travis before he came to us. But it's hard to explain otherwise the appearance and random presentation of many of his teeth.
Here's another shot -- this was what it all came down to, trying to get his mouth open enough to insert that tube:
Here's an over-the-shoulder view of Dr. Carle and her vet tech Kerry, who's checking the anesthesia monitoring unit on the shelf in the background:
Along with the teeth, she removed two oral masses and sent biopsies to the lab for review. We don't have results yet.
We don't know if Travis' mouth will close up again. That will depend in part on how he responds to medication over the long-term. This is something we will be monitoring closely.
We got back late Friday night, and Travis is recovering well from the surgery. He's on pain meds and antibiotics during this period.
Here's one final shot of Dr. Carle extracting a tooth:
I joked to the dental clinic staff that we'd put all his teeth under Travis' pillow and see what the tooth fairy would bring. (Alas, nothing!)
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2014 Shelter Challenge Underway
The first round of the Shelter Challenge for 2014 is underway and runs until March 30th. You can vote every day here. To search for us, type in our name, Rolling Dog Farm, and Lancaster, NH 03584. We've won thousands of dollars in the previous contests, so your daily votes do bring in serious money for our disabled animals!
Please note that I cannot help with technical or voting problems. I also do not have an "inside track" to anyone at the Shelter Challenge, and I don't know any more about the contest than anyone else does. So if you find yourself having issues, please consult their FAQ page here and their Rules page, which is a pop-up you can find linked on this page.
Thanks for your votes!
Glad it worked out!
Posted by: phalloplasty | April 01, 2014 at 11:42 PM
Hoping he recovers well and that this will help him open his mouth a bit more! Thank you for the super updates on everyone and all that you do for these sweet angels on your farm!
Posted by: Lisa Harris | February 07, 2014 at 12:46 PM
Wow, just WOW!! Hoping that Travis feels a thousand times better soon even if he/we didn't know how bad he felt prior to the extractions !!
Posted by: Leslie | January 29, 2014 at 09:46 AM
This is an absolute miracle!!! I wonder if the teeth being at all angles bothered/irritated his tongue all this time. Travis will feel SOOO much better after his mouth heals! Now we're all crossing our fingers for 'benign'...
Posted by: Colleen Vermillion | January 28, 2014 at 01:28 PM
My heart was pounding with each sentence of the blog! MAJOR is right! The whole process has been amazing! Please keep us posted each step of the way! We LOVE YOU TRAVIS!!!
Posted by: Shirley * James/Portland, OR | January 28, 2014 at 01:14 PM
What a day! I sure hope those masses are nothing more than tissue. Travis needs a break, as I'm sure you all do as well. Hopes and prayers for the very best outcome for Travis. Sweet Travis.
Posted by: Linda | January 28, 2014 at 12:58 PM
That is amazing! How wonderful that they were able to do that.Poor ol guy. Hopefully all goes well with the results of the biopsies. Voting
Posted by: Ev | January 28, 2014 at 12:07 PM
Oh Travis honey! I hope you will soon be feeling better than ever after all this dental work.
Prayers being sent for a smooth recovery, negative test results, and more range with your mouth.
We love you!!
Posted by: Chloe | January 28, 2014 at 09:44 AM
I'm very happy to hear that the surgery went well for Travis. I'm sure he's going to be much more comfortable. Here's wishing a speedy recovery for the sweet guy!
Posted by: Ann | January 28, 2014 at 02:28 AM
He needs doggy ice cream for pain relief!
Posted by: Penny Heinrich | January 27, 2014 at 11:35 PM
That tooth fairy needs to come back and leave him some really good mushed up food once he is feeling better. Poor baby deserves nothing less after all he has had to go through.....
Posted by: KCMarla | January 27, 2014 at 11:01 PM
Hugs to this special guy. I so hope it will give him some relief.
Posted by: Mary H. | January 27, 2014 at 07:32 PM
Let's hope those masses are nothing more than irritations that developed due to his "wiggly piggly" teeth. I had a shi zhu that when her teeth would be cleaned, several would have to be removed or fall out since she too had "wiggly piggly" syndrome. I hope he feels better and that everything will work out for the young man. You all could use a break....so to speak!
Hugs,
Posted by: Kathleen Rivard | January 27, 2014 at 06:19 PM
All that time you wondered what was in there, and now you know! I'm sure Travis will feel more comfortable now. He'll have that much more room to slurp things in, now that those teeth are out of the way. Hope those masses turn out to be benign!
Posted by: Tonya Allen | January 27, 2014 at 05:03 PM
NOTHING!! the tooth fairy brought him nothing!! That is sad. Glad he had the surgery tho, it will benefit him in the long run more than a quarter under his doggie bed.
Posted by: Anne in FL | January 27, 2014 at 04:19 PM
Oh I'm so glad to hear the surgery went okay. I hope the masses are nothing to worry about.
But what's up with the stingy tooth fairy????
Posted by: Lynn (in Louisiana) | January 27, 2014 at 03:21 PM
For all that poor Travis went through to get to this point, I sure there's something nice under his pillow! He sure has earned it. Here's hoping that his mouth will still be open enough so that he can slurp his meals. There's no way he could have been comfortable with such a mess like that in his mouth. Hopefully when he heals he will feel much better.
Posted by: Barb Ribinski | January 27, 2014 at 02:10 PM
I wonder with the teeth poking out at odd angles has he ever been in pain because they jabbed into his gums or tongue. You'd never have known but it might have been very uncomfortable. Will think good thoughts that his mouth doesn't close back up. What a thrill for him to may eat something thicker than soup! :-)
Posted by: Miranda Brooks | January 27, 2014 at 12:19 PM
WOW, what a day for Travis! (and you too, Steve). Here's hoping for a speedy recovery, benign masses only, and perhaps some ability to open wide(r).
Posted by: Peggy S. | January 27, 2014 at 12:14 PM