Toothloss and a Tongue that won't stay put
 

Our 16yo yorkie Bubba has terrible teeth. I'm sure many of you are familiar with this predicament. Bubba had three teeth pulled out, along with losing a fourth on his own, within a week. So i'm guessing he has lost a total of about 10-12 teeth. This has led to an issue that we hadn't anticipated. Ever since having the latest four out, his tongue is hanging out of his mouth. And now, he isn't drinking water on his own. Won't eat food. It's as if he doesn't know what to do with his tongue anymore. He will stand over his water bowl, leaning in as if to take a drink over and over. Sometimes for nearly 10 minutes. This continued for 2 days, so we went back to the vet. He sent us home with some recovery food (to aid in gaining weight) and a syringe for help feed him (The vet/vet techs jokingly referred to it as "doggy crack"(Royal Canin 'Recovery' wet food) He still isn't eating on his own. He has drank water on his own, but its nowhere near effortless for him.

I've seen other yorkies that were in the same boat, with their tongues out the side of there mouth but never heard of any issues like this. Has anyone else out there encountered this problem?! Any tricks or tips to help him be able to eat and drink on his own. Or that will help him learn how to eat and drink. We will be changing foods due to his lack of teeth.

Oh gosh, this is a real concern since he's wanting to eat/drink, but isn't/can't :(. I know soooo many elderly dogs who've almost no teeth at all and/or their tongue hangs out - and they can still eat/drink.

So, I can't help but wonder if he has more teeth that are really very bad - and causing bad pain, which is preventing him from eating/drinking.

Have all his teeth been looked over again...?