Yorkshire Terriers rank among the top five dogs with the worst dental health of any breed. If you own a Yorkie, there’s a very good chance your vet has already mentioned their teeth — or will soon. This isn’t bad luck or inadequate care on your part. Yorkies are anatomically built to develop severe dental disease, and most owners don’t find this out until significant damage has already occurred.
This guide explains what makes Yorkie teeth uniquely vulnerable, the specific problems to watch for, and the intensive care routine that actually makes a difference for this breed.
Why Yorkies Have Such Bad Teeth
Yorkshire Terriers are a toy breed, which means the same dental anatomy problem that plagues Chihuahuas and other small dogs affects them too: 42 adult teeth in a jaw that was never designed to hold them.
Dogs of all sizes have 42 adult teeth. A Saint Bernard and a five-pound Yorkie have identical tooth counts — but the Yorkie’s jaw is dramatically smaller. This creates chronic crowding, tooth rotation, and abnormal spacing that sets up ideal conditions for tartar accumulation and rapid periodontal disease progression.
Yorkies face several additional anatomical challenges:
- Persistent deciduous (baby) teeth — Yorkies fail to shed baby teeth at a particularly high rate. When the adult tooth erupts next to a retained baby tooth rather than displacing it, you get two teeth occupying one tooth’s worth of space. This double-tooth problem traps food and bacteria and is extremely common in Yorkshire Terriers.
- Narrow muzzle and jaw — The Yorkie’s characteristic fine-boned, narrow head means the dental arch is tight even by toy breed standards. Teeth that are already crowded get even less airflow and cleaning action from normal chewing.
- Fine tooth roots — Yorkie teeth tend to have narrow, delicate root structures. Combined with a shallow jaw bone, this means teeth lose structural support quickly as periodontal disease progresses.
- Tendency toward early bone loss — Some Yorkies have accelerated bone resorption around tooth roots, meaning that even moderate tartar accumulation can cause significant structural damage in a short window of time.
The clinical result: Yorkies routinely develop severe periodontal disease by age 3–4, and many adult Yorkies who haven’t received consistent dental care have significant tooth loss or infected teeth by age 5–7. This is not rare — it’s the breed norm without active intervention.
Retained Baby Teeth in Yorkies
This is the most common Yorkie-specific dental issue that owners need to know about, and it should be caught early.
Between 3–7 months, puppy teeth should loosen and fall out as adult teeth erupt beneath them. In Yorkies, this process frequently stalls. The adult tooth pushes up through the gum alongside the baby tooth rather than reabsorbing its roots. The result is double rows of teeth — typically visible in the upper canines and incisors where the issue occurs most often.
Why it matters: the narrow space between the retained baby tooth and the adult tooth is essentially impossible to clean. Bacteria and food accumulate there constantly, causing accelerated gum inflammation and decay in those specific locations. The retained tooth also pushes the adult tooth sideways, contributing to malocclusion.
The solution is extraction of the retained tooth under anesthesia — ideally performed around 6 months if the baby tooth is still present. Many vets do this concurrently with spay/neuter surgery to avoid a separate anesthetic event. If your Yorkie puppy is 6+ months old and you can see what looks like a double tooth or two teeth side by side, mention it to your vet at the next visit.
Common Yorkie Dental Problems
Tartar Buildup and Periodontal Disease
The most common and serious dental issue in Yorkies is simply the accelerated progression of standard periodontal disease. Tartar (hardened mineralized plaque) accumulates faster in crowded Yorkie mouths, and the shallow jaw bone means it causes bone loss sooner.
Periodontal disease progresses through four stages: gingivitis (reversible), early periodontitis, moderate periodontitis, and advanced periodontitis where teeth are mobile and extractions are often necessary. Yorkies can move through these stages faster than larger dogs, sometimes progressing from stage 1 to stage 3 within a year or two without treatment. Learn the full progression: Periodontal Disease in Dogs — Stages and Treatment.
Tooth Fractures
Yorkies’ small, fine-structured teeth are more susceptible to fractures from hard chews, bones, or toys. A fractured tooth can expose the pulp cavity, leading to pain, infection, and eventually abscess. Avoid antlers, marrow bones, hard nylon chews, and anything that doesn’t yield when you press it with your thumbnail — for a Yorkie’s teeth, if it doesn’t bend, it’s too hard.
Tooth Resorption
Some Yorkies develop tooth resorption — a process where the tooth structure is broken down from within, either starting at the root (external resorption) or internally. This is painful and often not visible from the outside without dental X-rays. Affected teeth eventually become fragile and must be extracted. It’s more common in older Yorkies and is detected through routine dental X-rays during cleanings.
Malocclusion
Abnormal bite alignment is common in Yorkies due to the combination of tiny jaw and standard tooth count. Teeth may grow at abnormal angles, contact opposing teeth abnormally, or sit entirely outside the normal arcade. In mild cases this is mostly cosmetic. In severe cases, abnormal contact can cause chronic irritation of gum tissue or tongue, or accelerate wear on certain teeth.
Yorkie Dental Care Routine: What the Breed Actually Requires
Daily Brushing — The Foundation
For Yorkies, daily tooth brushing is not aspirational — it’s the minimum required to counteract their accelerated plaque rate. Aim for every day. If that’s not realistic, three times per week provides meaningful benefit over nothing, but disease progression between sessions will be faster than for a medium or large breed on the same schedule.
Use a finger brush for Yorkies rather than a standard toothbrush. The small mouth size and often anxious temperament of the breed make a full-sized brush overwhelming. A finger brush lets you feel exactly what you’re doing and is less intrusive. Apply a small amount of enzymatic dog toothpaste — the enzymes in the formula do real work between brushing sessions.
Never use human toothpaste: xylitol is highly toxic to dogs, and the fluoride and detergents in human formulas aren’t meant to be swallowed. See our complete technique guide: How to Brush Your Dog’s Teeth the Right Way.
VOHC-Approved Dental Chews Sized for Toy Breeds
Dental chews provide mechanical scrubbing that complements brushing. For Yorkies, choose chews specifically designed for toy breeds — standard chews are too large and too hard. The VOHC (Veterinary Oral Health Council) seal indicates the product has been independently tested and proven to reduce plaque and/or tartar.
Avoid hard chews entirely: antlers, dried tendons, raw hides that harden, and similar products can fracture Yorkie teeth. Soft-to-medium density chews that the dog can actually chew through are the right consistency. See our recommendations: Best Dental Chews for Dogs.
Dental Water Additives
These tasteless, odorless additives in your Yorkie’s water bowl deliver enzymatic oral care throughout the day — every time they drink, they get a bacterial reduction benefit. They’re not a substitute for brushing, but they’re an easy daily maintenance layer. Look for VOHC-approved formulas.
Professional Cleanings Every 6 Months
Most dogs need professional dental cleanings once per year. Yorkies need them every 6 months. This isn’t a profit center for vets — it’s an honest response to the speed at which Yorkies accumulate tartar and develop bone loss. A 6-month cleaning catches early-stage disease before it becomes structural damage.
Professional cleaning for a Yorkie requires general anesthesia (not anesthesia-free groomer cleanings, which cannot reach below the gumline and miss the places where disease lives). Under anesthesia, the vet scales above and below the gumline on every tooth surface, takes full-mouth dental X-rays to assess root and bone health, and performs any needed extractions.
The anesthesia concern is understandable — small dogs carry slightly elevated anesthetic risk compared to large breeds. Pre-operative bloodwork and careful anesthetic management by an experienced vet mitigates this substantially. The alternative — skipping cleanings — leads to chronic pain, infection, tooth loss, and potential systemic effects of untreated oral bacteria. What to expect at the appointment: What to Expect After Dog Dental Cleaning.
Signs Your Yorkie Has Dental Problems
Yorkies, like most dogs, are very good at hiding dental pain. By the time behavior changes, disease is often advanced. Check your Yorkie’s mouth monthly and watch for:
- Yellow or brown crust on teeth near the gumline (tartar)
- Red, swollen, or receding gum tissue
- Persistent bad breath that isn’t explained by recent food
- Dropping food or eating more slowly than usual
- Preferring soft food over hard kibble
- Pawing at the face or mouth
- Chewing only on one side
- Swelling or asymmetry below one eye (sign of upper tooth abscess)
- Double tooth appearance — two teeth very close together (retained baby tooth)
- A single tooth that’s darker than the others (dead tooth)
Any of these signs in a Yorkie warrants prompt veterinary attention — particularly swelling, which can indicate an active tooth abscess. Learn all the warning signs: Signs Your Dog Needs a Professional Teeth Cleaning.
Extracting Yorkie Teeth — What You Need to Know
If your Yorkie needs extractions (very common in this breed), a few things to understand:
Multiple extractions at once are normal. It’s not unusual for a Yorkie’s first professional cleaning at age 3–4, if delayed, to result in 5–10 or more extractions. This sounds alarming but is a common and manageable outcome.
Yorkies do very well without teeth. They eat normally. Dogs don’t chew the way humans do — they tear and swallow. A toothless Yorkie eating kibble is not in distress; they manage it easily. Switching to softened or wet food is often done by owners as a kindness, but it’s typically not necessary.
They feel dramatically better after extractions. Dogs with painful, infected teeth often stop showing obvious signs of discomfort because chronic pain becomes their baseline. After extractions, owners frequently report their Yorkie became more playful, more alert, more affectionate, and ate more enthusiastically — revealing how much quiet suffering had been going on.
Frequently Asked Questions About Yorkie Teeth
How many teeth do Yorkies have?
Adult Yorkies have 42 teeth — identical to all dog breeds regardless of size. Yorkie puppies have 28 deciduous (baby) teeth that should be replaced by adult teeth between 3–7 months of age.
Why does my Yorkie have double teeth?
Retained deciduous (baby) teeth are extremely common in Yorkies. When the adult tooth erupts alongside rather than displacing the baby tooth, both remain visible — creating the double-tooth appearance. These retained teeth need veterinary extraction to prevent accelerated dental disease in that location.
How often should I have my Yorkie’s teeth professionally cleaned?
Every 6 months. The standard once-yearly recommendation applies to average-sized dogs. Yorkies’ accelerated tartar accumulation and rapid bone loss make biannual cleanings the appropriate standard for the breed.
Can I clean my Yorkie’s teeth with coconut oil?
Yes — coconut oil is safe for Yorkies and has real antibacterial properties (lauric acid) that reduce plaque-forming bacteria. It’s a useful complement to brushing, particularly as a training tool for dogs that resist toothpaste. It doesn’t replace enzymatic toothpaste but is better than nothing. Read more: Coconut Oil for Dog Teeth: Does It Really Work?
My Yorkie has bad breath even after brushing — is that normal?
Persistent bad breath after brushing usually indicates established tartar or gum disease that brushing alone can’t address. It’s a sign your Yorkie needs a professional dental cleaning and evaluation. Bad breath from healthy, properly maintained teeth is minimal. Full guide: Why Does My Dog Have Bad Breath?
At what age do Yorkies start losing teeth to dental disease?
Without preventive care, many Yorkies begin losing teeth to periodontal disease by age 5–7. With no care at all, some lose teeth as early as 3–4 years. With consistent daily brushing and biannual professional cleanings, many Yorkies keep their teeth well into their teens.
The Bottom Line
Yorkies require more intensive dental care than almost any other breed — not because they’re fragile, but because their anatomy makes dental disease almost inevitable without active intervention. The good news is that the interventions are known and effective: daily brushing, appropriate chews, dental water additives, and a professional cleaning every 6 months will keep most Yorkies’ mouths in genuinely good health throughout their lives.
Start as early as possible — ideally when the puppy first comes home. A Yorkie that grows up with daily tooth brushing as a normal routine is a Yorkie that will fight off the breed’s dental predispositions far more successfully than one who first encounters a toothbrush at age two. The difference between a Yorkie’s dental health at age 10 with versus without consistent care is not subtle.
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