Damaged tooth - better to leave it to fall or have it extracted?

[DarwinTesla]

I just noticed that our girl Darwin hadn't eaten her cucumber tonight, we've checked her teeth and one of her lower teeth (which are normally fine) is crossed over the front of the other one. She won't eat her cucumber (though she tried when we offered it) and seems distressed. I'm guessing the tooth that's crossed over has been damaged, became loose enough to cross over and is sore enough to cause problems.

Should we wait for it to separate/fall out on it's own, or should she be taken to a vet to deal with it? We have some after care mix we can use if that's any help?

 

[sport_billy]

I just noticed that our girl Darwin hadn't eaten her cucumber tonight, we've checked her teeth and one of her lower teeth (which are normally fine) is crossed over the front of the other one. She won't eat her cucumber (though she tried when we offered it) and seems distressed. I'm guessing the tooth that's crossed over has been damaged, became loose enough to cross over and is sore enough to cause problems.

Should we wait for it to separate/fall out on it's own, or should she be taken to a vet to deal with it? We have some after care mix we can use if that's any help?

Sorry to read this Definatety a vets visit is needed.

They will be able to sort it out for you. syringe feed her carefully if she is not able to eat. Lots of healing vibes to her

 

[hrl20100]

I would take her to the vets.
Tooth problems are serious in guinea pigs and can be very painful. If your pig isn't eating, its a sure sign that something is definitely hurting. Guinea pigs health deteriorates quickly, so try and get her to the vets asap.

 

[DarwinTesla]

Thanks very much for the advice. If it hasn't fallen out on its own by tomorrow I'll definitely book in a vets appt (it looks like the local uni has a small animal vet clinic, so fingers crossed). If it does fall out on its own overnight (and it isn't broken below the gumline - I cant tell for certain at the moment) and she can eat unaided, would she still need any vet procedure or medication?

The only reason I ask is that she's a bit of an old lady, and after what happened to her sister I'd rather not put her through the stress of the vets unless I can really justify it.

 

[Freela]

Definitely best to see a vet. And be sure they check the hind molars as well. Sometimes something visibly wrong in front arises from something hard to see wrong in back. Dental problems are definitely a challenge in guinea pigs... I'm there right now as well!

 

[DarwinTesla]

Definitely best to see a vet. And be sure they check the hind molars as well. Sometimes something visibly wrong in front arises from something hard to see wrong in back. Dental problems are definitely a challenge in guinea pigs... I'm there right now as well!

I'm a bit wary of messing around with her mouth until the tooth separates or is fixed, but is there a simple way to check molars? Our girls have always been really skittish about the mouths and go all jiu-jitsu on us if we do anything that might obstruct them.

 

[Freela]

Are you sure it's broken? My concern would be that there is overgrowth of the back molars which is resulting in the front teeth growing incorrectly. If you just checked her teeth the other day and they were normal, a break or injury seems more likely, but front teeth can definitely grow misshapen and out of alignment when there is uneven wear on the back teeth.
A vet who is familiar with piggy teeth can check them with a scope (like what you use to check ears with), or (better solution) with buccal separators that help to hold the mouth open. It doesn't require anesthesia and although the pig probably won't like it much, it's quick and painless. If it falls out, I doubt she will need any other treatment provided she begins eating normally, but if it doesn't resolve itself and she is not eating normally, something will need to be done. Hope it's nothing and it falls out on its own with no further issues! I can't stand teeth issues, I am dealing with them with one of my own pigs right now and it is lousy.

Thanks very much for the advice. If it hasn't fallen out on its own by tomorrow I'll definitely book in a vets appt (it looks like the local uni has a small animal vet clinic, so fingers crossed). If it does fall out on its own overnight (and it isn't broken below the gumline - I cant tell for certain at the moment) and she can eat unaided, would she still need any vet procedure or medication?

The only reason I ask is that she's a bit of an old lady, and after what happened to her sister I'd rather not put her through the stress of the vets unless I can really justify it.

 

[DarwinTesla]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's broken as her teeth are normally fine and the behaviour change has been really sudden. When I got up this morning she was drinking but it looked like it might have hurt since she was really tentative. She was trying to eat from her bowl too, but didn't look like she was having much success (though I could be wrong about that, it's hard to tell for certain). I'm going to wait until my wife gets up so we can check but from her behaviour this morning I'm guessing it hasn't fallen out. It looks like the vet clinic only deals with emergencies on weekends, but if it looks like she's not eating I'll give them a call. I'll try hand feeding her grass, pellets, cucumber pulp to get a decent appreciation of what she can eat, and hopefully fill her up a bit.

 

[DarwinTesla]

I tried little chunks of cucumber with no luck, but I've just made a whole bunch of tiny cucumber matchsticks and fed them to her by hand and she absolutely wolfed the lot. I'll let her stomach settle a bit and try handfeeding her some hay and grass.

 

[Wiebke]

You can also try to syringe or spoon feed her some mushed up pellets. Cut the narrow tip off a 1ml syringe if you got one at home.
She'll need the equivalent of about 120ml in solid or mushed up form over the course of 24 hours to maintain her weight.

 

[DarwinTesla]

You can also try to syringe or spoon feed her some mushed up pellets. Cut the narrow tip off a 1ml syringe if you got one at home.
She'll need the equivalent of about 120ml in solid or mushed up form over the course of 24 hours to maintain her weight.

Thanks for that. Yeah, we have a syringe and some critical care mix, but have plenty of selective pellets to mush up too. I'm still waiting on my wife to wake up so we can check her teeth and decide what to do next. She's going to hate syringe feeding, but hopefully she gets used to it quickly.

 

[DarwinTesla]

We've just checked her teeth and the damaged one has separated overnight. It's broken very close to the gumline, but not into it (as far as I can tell). She's eating grass and shaved carrot (handfed) and seems perfectly happy, chasing me for food, but she's still tentative about eating her nuggets. Though that could be because she has grass and carrot incoming. We'll keep a good eye on her today, keep trying her with her nuggets, try & get her used to syringe feeding & will see about getting time off work to take her to a vet.

 

[LisaAli]

We've just checked her teeth and the damaged one has separated overnight. It's broken very close to the gumline, but not into it (as far as I can tell). She's eating grass and shaved carrot (handfed) and seems perfectly happy, chasing me for food, but she's still tentative about eating her nuggets. Though that could be because she has grass and carrot incoming. We'll keep a good eye on her today, keep trying her with her nuggets, try & get her used to syringe feeding & will see about getting time off work to take her to a vet.

It may be worthwhile adding a little water to her nuggets to soften them a little. It may be that her mouth is still a bit tender so she's not willing to bite on anything too hard.

Lisa & Ali....x