# 5 month old overbite... will it grow out?



## marbury

Opinions: will this overbite in a 5.5 month old bitch grow out? 50/50 odds? Both parents have correct bite, but one puppy from a previous breeding had a level bite (I did not know this at the time). Not my dogs, not my breeding. This was the first puppy I've had from this breeder, not sure what to think.
My gut says 'nope', since it hasn't changed in the last two months or with the eruption of the canines. But I don't have any experiences with dogs that weren't scissor-bite from the get-go, so this is new territory for me.
Sorry, best pic I could get. Try holding down a high drive puppy long enough for a bite pic, lol!


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## Elaine

Can't see the bite at all in the pic. You need a better pic. In general, the worse the overbite, the less chance of it correcting itself.


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## *Lisa*

Is the lower canine digging into the upper gum creating a hole or a dent?

If it is, I'd have it checked out by a dental specialist. We were dealing with this with out 6 month old girl, and her lower canine was creating a hole in her upper palate. In 3-4 weeks, it had shifted itself and was creating a "dent" on the outside of her upper gum. Now, 4 more weeks later, the tooth appears to be settled into the correct position. The specialist advised that we did not need any corrective measures, but sometimes help is needed to move the teeth into the correct position.


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## marbury

Nothing is digging into anything yet, I'm not worried about canines. It's the incisors I'm fretting about. That's pretty far from a scissor bite; no judge would miss this (well... I *hope* no judge would miss this, lol). There's still a bit of room for her lower canine to pull her jaw forward, should I hope?


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## BlackthornGSD

Did she have an overbite at 8 weeks? 

I think this small degree over overbite will correct as she grows. Especially if the lower canines catch against the uppers, this can work to help correct the bite too.

The upper and lower jaws grow at different rates and this can cause overbites temporarily.


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## marbury

She had an overbite with her puppy teeth at 10 weeks when I got her, but I honestly didn't think much of it (big mistake, one I won't make again). Thanks so much for the input, I'd still love more... it seems like I'm getting 50/50 on this, lol.


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## Wolfgeist

Hunter had an overbite that corrected itself by the time he was one year old. I wouldn't worry about it for now.


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## marbury

Thanks for the responses so far. Let me ask a different question:

Even if the bite resolved, *would you remove this dog from your breeding program *because of this issue with the bite assuming all the other conformation was spot-on?


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## Freestep

That overbite does not look severe to me. There's a good chance it will correct itself as she grows. Were you planning on showing her?


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## marbury

Yes. And adding her to my breeding program, hence the question.


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## Liesje

My dog Nikon had a small overbite through teething and it never went away. He has all his teeth and a scissor bite but still a small overbite. I showed this to an SV judge who told me that it would not effect a breed survey, the overbite is too insignificant and his bite is otherwise correct and dentition complete. I expect to breed survey him this fall. He is also a UKC champion and has one leg for his GRCH (would be done by now except I've only shown him once a year lately). 

Pan however had the most screwed up bite through teething. Overbite where his bottom teeth cut into the top of his mouth, canines overlapped (not scissor). Yet, by 8 months his bite was perfect. Scissor bite, no overbite, now certified by WDA/SV and in his USCA scorebook.


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## marbury

Liesje said:


> My dog Nikon had a small overbite through teething and it never went away. He has all his teeth and a scissor bite but still a small overbite. I showed this to an SV judge who told me that it would not effect a breed survey, the overbite is too insignificant and his bite is otherwise correct and dentition complete. I expect to breed survey him this fall. He is also a UKC champion and has one leg for his GRCH (would be done by now except I've only shown him once a year lately).
> 
> Pan however had the most screwed up bite through teething. Overbite where his bottom teeth cut into the top of his mouth, canines overlapped (not scissor). Yet, by 8 months his bite was perfect. Scissor bite, no overbite, now certified by WDA/SV and in his USCA scorebook.


Thanks so much! This has really helped. :thumbup:


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## MaggieRoseLee

That overbite doesn't look like a problem at all. Bretta's was worse and I took her to a doggy dentist specialist.

She took one look and said that this seems to be somewhat common in the 'working lines' and cropping up fairly frequently in the breeding programs some of the police programs are using. She just recommended massage and keeping an eye on it because in her experience most of the time the problem resolved itself.

And the problems do seem to be the canines poking holes in the upper palate, not an incisor issue.

I think your dog will be fine.

http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...bretta-s-overbite-picture16167-left-side.html


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## Liesje

See if I can find pictures....

Pan's teeth at 5 months. Double canine, massive overbite, top canines overlap the bottom (not scissor/fit together).


















Don't have any bite pictures now but he's 23 months and the bite is perfect.


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## Liesje

Nikon's was never all wonky like Pan's while teething, on the contrary he had just a slight overbite yet his never corrected.


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