Dental Guinea pig broke two front teeth

[Ferdinand]

Hi all,
i am new to this forum . I have two male guinea pigs . This evening we were in the living room and when we picked them up to bring them back in the cage , one of them moved quickly and fell ( not from very high ) but then broke his two front teeth at the gum.

i brought him to the vet who said his jaw was not broken , but his two front teeth are open and broken ( youcan see a little blood in the centre) . She gave him some pain relief medication. This vet does not know about exotic animals so they referred me to an exotic animal clinic and I am still waiting for a call back.

i am panicking because this vet said the teeth would never grow back and would potentially get infected ! I am so stressed and I feel so bad for him as now he can’t eat . I grated some carrots and put a little bit of water in his kebbles to make it easier to eat .
Did this ever happen to anyone , does this mean he will never be able to eat properly again ?

 

[DMS260820]

@furryfriends (TEAS) @Wiebke @anyar.dris

 

[anyar.dris]

I had a piggy who broke one of his bottom incisors and it never grew back. Although we thought it was because he had abscess problem from that tooth. Another one broke a tooth and it grew back. I also had a piggy who had one of her incisors removed because of abscess and root problems. None of them had problems eating though.

Guinea pigs' teeth grow everyday and it usually isn't a problem for them eating with whatever front teeth left. They use it for picking up the food. If your piggy is having problems picking up the food, try cutting the veggies in strips or grated. You can also mush up his pellets. If he really can't eat, start syringe feeding critical care or the mushed pellets. Hopefully the teeth would grow back. Also start weighing him daily to monitor his weight.

Btw, where do you live? If you live in the UK and don't have problems travelling, The Cat & Rabbit Care Clinic in Northampton is the best place to go to in terms of dental issues.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi all,
i am new to this forum . I have two male guinea pigs . This evening we were in the living room and when we picked them up to bring them back in the cage , one of them moved quickly and fell ( not from very high ) but then broke his two front teeth at the gum.

i brought him to the vet who said his jaw was not broken , but his two front teeth are open and broken ( youcan see a little blood in the centre) . She gave him some pain relief medication. This vet does not know about exotic animals so they referred me to an exotic animal clinic and I am still waiting for a call back.

i am panicking because this vet said the teeth would never grow back and would potentially get infected ! I am so stressed and I feel so bad for him as now he can’t eat . I grated some carrots and put a little bit of water in his kebbles to make it easier to eat .
Did this ever happen to anyone , does this mean he will never be able to eat properly again ?

Hi!

Please take a deep breath and calm down!

Broken teeth are not at all uncommon; but it can be very upsetting for the owner if this happens in a freak accident you can never brace for.

Unfortunately it takes a hands-on examination of the teeth and a check on whether the roots or the teeth are broken further down, seeing that incisors are about 4 cm long; so we cannot comment on that.

Incisors are the teeth that pick up and cut any food. They self-sharpen and wear against the opposite pair. So you may have to syringe feed your boy while he is very poorly in the first day or two and offer him soft hay, if necessary softened mushed pellets. Cut any veg in small strips so they can be picked up easily. Only syringe feed if your boy needs extra support to maintain his weight and no more than he needs to. It is important that you encourage him to eat as much as possible normally so the back teeth which do the actual chewing and grinding stay down tidy and are not affected. Molars and premolars have evolved against the very abrasive silica in grass and hay (which is dried grass), so the more hay a piggy eats, the better.

The good news is that in most cases the teeth grow back pretty quickly over the course of about 1-2 weeks depending on where the break has happened. In those cases where badly damaged teeth have to be removed or enver grow back, a piggy can live with either regular dental support care (the opposite incisors need clipping from time to time due to overgrowth) or by removing the opposite incisor(s) altogether. Piggies with missing incisors, even all of them, can still lead a normal life as long as you adapt feeding to what they can do.
Our syringe feeding guide contains a special chapter with tips on how to care for guinea pigs with dental issues: Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Please control his food intake by weighing daily at the same time (I prefer to weigh before I feed breakfast). Hay should make over 80% of what a piggy eats in a day but you cannot control that by eye, so the kitchen scales it is!
Weight - Monitoring and Management
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig Safely

Here is a very recent video of my Dylan, who has had the toothache from hell over the last weekend with a very sore swollen jaw but a dental root abscess in his right bottom incisor that has not yet developed enough to be treatable. In view of the upcoming holidays, we have made the decision to put him on a very strong antibiotic and painkiller in the hopes that we can suppress the abscess until the new year when everybody is back on board to let the abscess come up and lance it. Thankfully, it seems to be working and Dylan has been able to put back a little of his lost weight eating under his own steam and eat more of a range of still cut up veg and the normal amount of the dietary mainstay (hay) to have nice normal poos again!
As the eating problem is comparable, this may hopefully give you a bit of comfort and practical help:

 

[Ferdinand]

Anyar and Wiebke ,

Thank you both so much for your reply and for all this information , it’s much appreciated .

anyar ; yes I am in the UK . Thank you for your recommendation

it is so reassuring to hear that guinea pigs can live normal lives with some teeth missing , although I am really hoping they do grow back. I got an appointment a 9 am with the guinea pig specialist at the exotic pets vet clinic .

i will try to Syringe feed him tomorrow if I see he is not eating or can’t pick up his food. He did try to pick up some parsley and could not manage

again I can’tyank you enough for your advice ! Will give an update after I see the vet

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

It's good that you've got an appointment to get him checked. Here at TEAS, we have three guinea pigs with missing incisors. They have the remaining ones burred every three weeks, as there is nothing for them to wear against, but other than that, they eat completely normally. Obviously they can't bite down on hard foods, such as carrot or a broccoli stalk, but everything else is fine! A few weeks ago, Maddie lost her only remaining incisor and still continued to eat completely normally. This one grew back within a week!

 

[Ferdinand]

Thanks for your reply furry friend ! To be honest before yesterday I had no idea guinea pigs could still eat with incisors missing!

we just saw the vet and they said the teeth should grow back . They gave him some painkillers and recommended we keep giving him painkillers for another 5 days . No antibiotics needed .
Otherwise he seems ok , he is still eating some hay and even had some parsley this morning ( I hand fed him some )

I am so glad he will be ok . Apologies for the panicky post yesterday . I am new to owning guinea pigs ( only had them for 8 months now ) and had no idea about all of this .

 

[Ferdinand]

Wiebke ,
I hope Dylan recovers fast , but glad to hear he has been able to put back some weight ! It can be stressful when our furry friends are unwell .

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

Thanks for your reply furry friend ! To be honest before yesterday I had no idea guinea pigs could still eat with incisors missing!

we just saw the vet and they said the teeth should grow back . They gave him some painkillers and recommended we keep giving him painkillers for another 5 days . No antibiotics needed .
Otherwise he seems ok , he is still eating some hay and even had some parsley this morning ( I hand fed him some )

I am so glad he will be ok . Apologies for the panicky post yesterday . I am new to owning guinea pigs ( only had them for 8 months now ) and had no idea about all of this .

No need to apologise for panicking, we've all been there and learn as we go along. Many years ago, when my piggy, Poppet, developed dental issues, I was in tears, because I didn't know how to syringe feed properly. I thought she was going to die because I was so useless. Trying to get medication in was an absolute nightmare! Who would ever have thought, back then, that I would be running a sanctuary for guinea pigs with ongoing health issues, further down the line!

 

[Wiebke]

Anyar and Wiebke ,

Thank you both so much for your reply and for all this information , it’s much appreciated .

anyar ; yes I am in the UK . Thank you for your recommendation

it is so reassuring to hear that guinea pigs can live normal lives with some teeth missing , although I am really hoping they do grow back. I got an appointment a 9 am with the guinea pig specialist at the exotic pets vet clinic .

i will try to Syringe feed him tomorrow if I see he is not eating or can’t pick up his food. He did try to pick up some parsley and could not manage

again I can’tyank you enough for your advice ! Will give an update after I see the vet

All the best!

Even with the best of care, you always bump into things you cannot anticipate or prevent - pet keeping is a life-long learning curve. I certainly still learn new things all the time...

We are here for exactly this kind of situation to help you work out whether something is normal, needs to be vet checked in due time or as an emergency.

You may find our new owners guide collection very useful as it addresses specifically all the questions and concerns that we get asked about most often and that many books gloss over. Our format allows us to keep our information updated to extend it as time allows.
We have several guides that help you learn to know what is normal and what not; to spot early signs of illness and tell you how quickly you should see a vet for the most common problems. It is well worth bookmarking and using as a resource: Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides

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