Slight underbite in small dog

[littleladymv]

Hi, I have been speaking with a maltese breeder over the past few days and came very close to purchasing a puppy from her.  She mentioned that the dog was born with a slight underbite...that she did not notice this at first but the vet pointed it out to her.  I expressed concern that this would become very apparent as the dog matured and it's adult teeth came in.  She said that her vet said it would not change the appearance of the dog.  She welcomed me to phone the vet, which I will do tomorrow. You may be wondering why I am even contemplating this if it bothers me, but I have to say that I absolutely fell in love with this dog when I saw the photos.  Of all of the dogs I have been viewing, I felt such a connection with this one.
Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated.
Melissa

[Ghilly]

A slight underbite in a pet quality dog (as opposed to a dog that is going to be shown and bred) is nothing at all to worry about.  If you were purchasing her with the intention of breeding her, I would strongly advise you against it, but there is nothing about a slight underbite that is going to prevent her from being a perfect pet.  :)

Ghilly

[ginger899]

My thoughts are if you feel this way about this little dog, take it into your life! Your love will be given back to you threefold!
As for the way it looks.....does that matter? I don't know if there are any dental problems or not with dogs who have a pronounced underbite/overbite. There may be, but maybe not. I have seen a few unusual-looking dog-faces on my travels, but they all looked healthy enough!