I have a miniature daschund and I think he might have gingivits - but I am not sure. I just really noticed it. He is not

Hello, I am Dr. V. I am sorry to hear that your pet is having troubles. I am a licensed small animal veterinarian. I am here to help answer your question. Please be advised that while this forum is for advice, veterinary licensing laws prohibit me from making a diagnosis or dispensing medications. The site may automatically offer a phone service. I am unable to offer phone services at this time. You can decline the offer and continue allowing me to help you if you would like. Please allow me to review the information you have provided and formulate a response. This may take a few minutes.

Can you take some pictures of his gums and attach them to the chat?

Great. I'll take a look once they are attached and type up a response.

Benny is very cute! I am quite partial to mini dachshunds! I do agree it appears as though there is some gingivitis present. I am also seeing some mild-moderate tartar especially on the canine teeth. Dental disease is difficult to evaluate even in person on physical exam, let alone through pictures, however we know that dental disease is often much worse than meets the eye. Because of this, whenever there is evidence of eve mild dental disease, a full COHAT (complete oral health assessment and treatment) is warranted. This process involved a general anesthetic which enables your veterinarian to do a full oral exam (of each tooth both above and below the gum line) as well as full mouth dental x-rays. Once Benny's mouth is full evaluated, your vet will be able to determine if there are teeth that are diseased beyond repair. The most common dental disease that we see in dogs is periodontal disease, which is disease of the ligament/ bone around the root of the tooth, and while it is not always visible when looking the mouth, it can be a source of significant discomfort.

This is a good source of info on dental disease in dogs:

https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951302

It is difficult to say definitively. We often refer to canine dental disease as having an 'iceberg effect', meaning that what we see is only the tip of the iceberg, and the majority of the disease is below the gum line. From the few teeth that I can see in the picture, the teeth don't look too terrible, however, there is often more severe disease in the back of the mouth. I think that a full evaluation is a really good idea. Dogs are not good at telling us that their mouth hurts, but often we will find that once a dental procedure is done, these guys will feel so much better and start acting "like a puppy again".

I hope that the answer that I have provided is satisfactory. Please let me know if you need further clarification. Thank you for using Just Answer and trusting me to answer your question.