Dante is a 3 ½ yr old intact male Great Pyranees that came to us for a dental hygiene procedure due to difficulty eating. Pre-anesthetic labwork and examination were unremarkable so we proceeded with his anesthetic induction. When Dante was having his breathing tube placed the technician immediately noticed something very wrong. His tongue was unable to be extended past his incisors.
We then noticed an abnormal fibrous attachment tethering the tongue.
This attachment has been present since Dante was born and we were all very surprised that he’s made it this far in life with this condition. Often times this abnormality would be expected to interfere with nursing and result in failure to thrive or even death as a puppy.
Dante has “ankyloglossia”, also known as being “tongue tied”. Although quite common in human newborns this condition is thought to be quite rare in dogs and to our knowledge has only previously been reported in Anatolian Shepherds where it is a known genetic condition.
The treatment is a fairly simple surgical release of the abnormal attachment but has life improving benefits that are immense. Dante is a heavily haired stock dog that lives outdoors (as a full time livestock guard dog) in Western Colorado where the daytime temperatures in the summer routinely reach the 90’s. Up until now Dante has been unable to pant normally to cool off, as well as not being able to drink efficiently. Below is a photo of Dante’s tongue after the release.
As a side note, Dante also had another known genetic dental anomaly which was corrected at the time of this procedure. Dante developed more maxillary incisors than he should have. This led to displacement of the normal teeth and a resultant malocclusion.
Dante is so much happier now and this just goes to show how valuable a thorough dental exam can be!