Comparison of estimated dental age and true age in German Shepherd dogs

Abstract

Introduction: Teeth growth and wear is the most practical thing that is used in the clinical and physical examination of the animal to estimate age. Age estimation is mainly based on the characteristics of incisors and canine teeth. One of the most popular dog breeds is the German Shepherd. Therefore, due to the high frequency of visits of the German Shepherd dogs in the Ahvaz Veterinary Hospital, age-related changes in the dentition were investigated with emphasis on the changes of the incisors and canines in both males and females.
Materials & Methods: For this purpose, 100 German Shepherd dogs were examined in 7 age groups including to 2 months, 2 to 8 months, 8 to 18 months, 18 to 36 months, 36 to 60 months, 60 to 120 months and more than 120 months. After making sure that the animal is calm, the images of the incisors and canines were taken from vestibular and rostral views by a digital camera. The measurement of the crown length of incisors and canines in the left upper jaw was done using a digital caliper and an endodontic ring. In a computerized and statistical study of the data, the relationship between the length of the teeth crown and age and the relationship between the estimated age and the true age was studied.
Results: Comparing the length of the crowns of the incisors in each group showed that the first to third incisors had the shortest to the longest crown length, respectively. Permanent incisors and canine erupted in 3.5 and 4 months respectively, and completed in 4.8 months. However, the eruption of all teeth completed in 6 to 8 months. After this age, wearing of the teeth started and from 18 months onwards, it was first noticed in the lower central incisors and gradually in the other teeth.
Conclusion: The correlation between the estimated age and the true age of the examined dogs, was significant and therefore, it seems that the estimation of dental age can be very close to true age of the animal.