This is “Bonnie”, the world’s sweetest 6-yr-old S/F Chocolate Labrador Retriever. Bonnie was presented to us for a COHAT. We immediately noticed something unusual about her teeth.
This is what we saw...
There is obvious discoloration of the teeth, but oddly enough, all of these teeth were determined to be perfectly healthy! There was tartar accumulation above and below the gum-line, and moderate gingivitis in addition to small areas of gingival hyperplasia (gum tissue overgrowth), and numerous areas of wear but the color of the teeth in this case is not an indicator of tooth disease.
This appearance was most likely caused by this dog receiving a tetracycline antibiotic (as would be prescribed for an upper respiratory infection) as a young puppy while the adult teeth were forming. The chemical nature of tetracycline antibiotics makes them bind to calcium in the body. As the hard tissue of a tooth (made of calcium) is forming, the antibiotic is incorporated into the tooth structure permanently discoloring it.
Generally, we use tooth color as one of many factors to evaluate the health of a tooth. We cannot rely on this factor in this patient so annual x-rays are ideal to be able to detect any developing disease within the tooth.