Swedish Vallhunds should - as the breed standard states - have full dentition and scissor bite. However, some individuals have missing teeth, mostly P1s, but some dogs have missing P2s and even P4s. In recent meeting of show judges in Sweden they made recommendation for the judging of teeth that a dog can have no more than 2 P1s and 1 P2 missing in order to get a quality judging of EXCELLENT (Champion quality). Missing teeth is considered to be a hereditary trait so when one is breeding dogs with missing teeth one should choose a mate that has full dentition. Missing teeth is one fault among others and one should not put too much weight over any one of them.

When examining or showing a dog’s dentition, be sure to clear the lips and cheek tissue clearly from the mouth or the teeth may be miscounted or misidentified. Be sure the dog is not nervous and setting its teeth in an abnormal position due to tenseness. Try to “soften” the jaw by relaxing the dog’s head and neck position. Tooth placement is affected by genetics, jaw structure, lip structure, the tongue, other teeth - deciduous (“baby teeth”) and/or permanent, as well as the habits of the dog such as carrying a training dummy, chewing on kennel fencing or crate wire, or continual rock fetching.

When evaluating dog’s teeth, we need to look at the relationship of all the teeth to each other and the jaw. Ethical breeders do care about dentition and require knowledge about the whole mouth - not just the incisors. It is very easy to just count the number of teeth or evaluate the “bite” of the incisors, but it is only when we look at the overall picture that we can see how genetics is affecting the dentition. The breeder needs to know the number of teeth; the type of bite or how the incisors meet; the relationship of the canine teeth, the premolars, the molars, and the jaw curvature. If there are any genetic inconsistencies, this should be taken into consideration in the breeding program.

Dogs normally have twenty-eight deciduous (primary or baby) teeth that erupt during the first six months of life. Most breeds have forty-two adult teeth. There are four types of teeth. Incisors are the smaller teeth located between the canines on the upper and lower jaws. They are used for grasping food and help keep the tongue within the mouth. Canines (also called cuspids or fang teeth) are located on the sides of the incisors and used to grasp food. Premolars (bicuspids) are for shearing or cutting food and are located behind the canines. The molars are the last teeth in the mouth. They are used for grinding nourishment for entry into the esophagus. A missing P3 may be more significant but if a breeder breeds two dogs with missing P1s this is setting a genetic trait that significantly weakens the jaw.

The way teeth align with each other is termed occlusion. Normal occlusion in most breeds consists of the upper  incisors just overlapping the lower  incisors (scissor bite). The lower canine should be located equidistant between the last (lateral) incisor and the upper canine tooth. Premolar tips of the lower jaw should point between the spaces of the upper jaw teeth. Flat faced breeds  normally do not have scissor bites.