Ask Dr Claire

My wife bought a 9 wk old husky. The pup is lively and eats biscuits ok, but has a 1cm overbite. Is this likely to cause problems in the future?

An overbite means that the upper jaw is longer than the lower jaw.

For some puppies who are born with an overbite where the gap is not big, the problem will sometimes correct itself. If the gap is still present as they get older  i.e. around 10 months of age, it will not correct on it’s own.

Overbites mean that the teeth are unable to nicely oppose each other in the mouth. They may also become a bigger problem as the adult teeth come in. This is because the adult teeth are larger than the puppy teeth, so they can more easily cause damage to the mouth when they are rubbing in the wrong spots.

In some bad cases of overbites the removal of the problem teeth may be required as a way to stop the pain and rubbing in the mouth.

A hands-on examination from your local vet would be a great place to start, and close monitoring of your pup is required to ensure there are no painful lesions developing in the mouth from rubbing.

If you’d like to chat in person, you can book a Vetchat vet on a live video call or start a chat to discuss in more detail, as soon as possible.

We’re here to help!

Chat soon,

Dr Claire