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Name: Chad
Status: other
Grade: 9-12
Location: Outside U.S.
Country: Canada
Date: Spring 2011
Question:
Can a bad tooth problem, infection (we've had several teeth pulled) cause a problem with deafness in a dog ? We have a snoodle 14 years old, but still in other wise good health.


Replies:
Hi Chad,

Sorry to hear about Snoodle's hearing and dental problems. Deafness in an older dog is not uncommon and it would not likely be due to any tooth related problems. A severe tooth infection that extends or penetrates through the bone into the ear canal would be very rare and you would see very obvious symptoms in the ear. If your vet has examined Snoodle and there were no obvious problems related to the ear canal, then I would attribute the hearing loss to an age related change. I hope this helps.

You must doing a good job taking care of Snoodle.

Regards, Louis M. Huzella, DVM, Diplomate, ACVP


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