Puppy Teeth: A Fascinating Biological Function
- Everwell Pets
- May 7
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 27
If you’ve ever had a puppy sink their tiny jaws into your shoelaces, your socks, or your actual skin, you know those little chompers mean business, but beyond the chaos and cuteness lies an incredible story of biology in motion.
Puppy teeth aren’t just mini versions of adult teeth—they follow a timeline, serve very specific purposes, and reveal a whole lot about what our canine companions were built to eat (spoiler: it’s not kibble). So grab a chew toy—er, I mean, a cup of tea—and let’s sink our teeth into some fun facts!
Puppy Teeth 101:
Tiny, but Mighty!
Puppies, those wriggly, toe-biting bundles of joy, actually start life without any teeth at all. Zip. Nada. But give them 3 to 4 weeks and—bam!—they sprout 28 tiny, razor-sharp milk teeth, also called deciduous teeth. You’ll find 14 on the top, 14 on the bottom, and all of them are ready to explore your fingers, furniture, and shoes. It’s wild how quickly they go from gummy grins to chompy chaos.
Out with the Old: In with the Adult Chompers
Between 4 and 5 months of age, those baby teeth start falling out, making room for their grown-up gear: 42 adult teeth. And trust me, this transition isn’t just about upgrading the hardware—it’s crucial for your pup’s lifelong oral (and overall) health. Just like kids, if those baby teeth don’t fall out when they’re supposed to, things can get crowded, crooked, and cranky.
Tooth by Tooth: The Timeline of Teething
The incisors—those small teeth in the front—usually pop up first around 2-3 weeks of age. They’re nature’s built-in grooming tools, great for nibbling meat off bone or helping a buddy with a messy coat.
Around 4 weeks, the canine teeth arrive. They’re long, pointy, and look like they mean business (and they do.)
A few weeks later, the premolars come along, designed for slicing meat and separating the good stuff from the gristle.
Molars, these tough crushers don’t show up until later in a pup’s development, but they’re worth the wait. They’re the workhorses of the adult dog’s mouth, made to grind up harder substances like bone. Puppies don’t need them yet—milk doesn’t require grinding—but by adulthood, they’re an essential part of the full carnivore toolkit.
The Chewing Myth
I want to bust a myth: chewing is actually not a natural behavior for dogs. In reality, dogs are built to rip, tear, scrape, and crush—not to sit and chew like a cow with cud. Their salivary enzymes and oral microbiome are tailored to that style of eating. If you're looking at proactive and natural approaches for maintaining dental health, look no further than raw bones!
Fun fact: dogs rarely get cavities. Why? Their enamel is super thick.
Why a Raw Food Diet Makes Dental (and Biological) Sense
A species-appropriate raw food diet supports your dog’s natural anatomy and biology—giving them real, functional food that promotes dental health, proper jaw function, and a balanced microbiome from the inside out. It’s not just about what not to feed (a carbohydrate-heavy, starchy kibble diets, which actually harms the biome); it’s about aligning their diet with how nature designed them to thrive.
In Conclusion:
Every type of tooth in a dog’s mouth tells a story—of survival, evolution, and what their wild ancestors needed to eat to thrive. From incisors to canines, premolars to molars, each one plays a distinct role in the natural canine way of life.
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