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Dental I Need Advice About My Guinea’s Dental Problems & Possible Solutions

Laaaauren

Laaaauren

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Jul 11, 2019
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Location
Truro, Cornwall
Hello everyone, I’m posting an update about Storm, my beautiful little boy who’s been very sick lately.

So yesterday Storm was put under anaesthetic while our exotic’s vet filed down his teeth and gave him an x-ray. When we went to pick him up, he seemed very bright and alert. Our vet told us that he reacted well to being sedated and that his actual teeth are very healthy. However, my partner and I were devastated to find out that Storm has an abnormality in his jaw where his teeth are pushing down, not up. This was the main source of pain that had been preventing him from eating.

The vet gave us three options:
• option one is the safest, where we have his teeth filed every few months to ease pressure on his jaw. But he’ll most likely be on painkillers (and possibly critical care) for the remainder of his life.
• option two is the vet would file the teeth right down to just above the pulp, again to ease pressure. However, this is again only temporary and if the pulp was too exposed it could cause more discomfort than it’s solving.
• option three is a complete extraction of the first few top and bottom teeth to hopefully remove the issue. It could be the most long term but it’s also the most risky because as gentle as the vet would be, there’s always the risk of his jaw fracturing.

The option of euthanasia never came up which we were extremely thankful for (I couldn’t bear to lose him).

But my partner and I are lost on what is best to do for Storm. We want him in the least amount of pain and stress as possible but neither have us have ever experienced something like this before.
Please, if anyone has ever experienced something like this with their guinea or knows someone who has, I would really appreciate some advice. Storm and his brother Pebbles are our world and we’d be lost without them. 😞
 
I’m so sorry to hear your news :(

I have a dental piggy too

Reuben hasn’t been well ☹️

Please can I assure you that you will get an answer to your queries .. but I feel your queries are best answered by one of our health and illness gurus
 
Veggies Galore said:
I’m so sorry to hear your news :(

I have a dental piggy too

Reuben hasn’t been well ☹

Please can I assure you that you will get an answer to your queries .. but I feel your queries are best answered by one of our health and illness gurus
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Such a handsome boy! I’m very sorry about your little one’s dental problems too. If there are any health and illness guru’s you could suggest I would be extremely grateful. Thank you!
 
Lady Kelly said:
Sorry to hear about your dental piggy. Debbie is our dental expert and she runs TEAS (for extra needs piggies). Shes not on the forum at the moment due to too many other commitments but she would be more than happy for you to give her a call during normal daytime hours. Here is her website with contact info The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary – Providing life-enhancing care for Guinea Pigs with extra needs
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That’s really helpful, I’ll call here as soon as she’s open - thank you very much!
 
Hiya, sorry Storm is poorly
I have two dental piggies, Bill and Ted, both have totally different problems. Bill has problem incisors and Ted has a dodgy molar which grows oddly. Both have dentals around 2-3 months at the Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton and see Simon Maddock who is the most experienced dental piggie vet in the country. he does conscious dentals so no need for GA and all the risks associated with that, it takes about 10 minutes and very reasonably priced. My Ted last year started having problem eating hay, he had a GA dental at a local vets and was made far worse. His incisors were cut too short and the real problem his molar was not corrected so CC for around 5-6 weeks until his front teeth were long enough to pick food up and get him up to Northampton last July. he has eaten perfectly since.
Bill broke an incisor last year which grew back fine but the root was damaged and now grows very fat and wide and needs regular burring so it doesn’t damage his gums and misalign his other teeth.
I would strongly recommend getting up there if you possibly can, I’ve found no vets down in Cornwall that I feel have any experience with dental piggies.
Some of these suggestions sound very strange to me?
 
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@Lady Kelly has already given you the same advice that I would have given you. TEAS sanctuary is looking specifically after guinea pigs with chronic dental disease, so they have all the experience that we others lack in this area.
 
Wiebke said:
@Lady Kelly has already given you the same advice that I would have given you. TEAS sanctuary is looking specifically after guinea pigs with chronic dental disease, so they have all the experience that we others lack in this area.
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I’ve just sent them an email explaining everything, from the very first vet visit to his latest. I did try to call several times but it kept going straight to voicemail. We’re going to do whatever it takes to make our little Storm well again - thank you! 🙂
 
Bill & Ted said:
Hiya, sorry Storm is poorly
I have two dental piggies, Bill and Ted, both have totally different problems. Bill has problem incisors and Ted has a dodgy molar which grows oddly. Both have dentals around 2-3 months at the Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton and see Simon Maddock who is the most experienced dental piggie vet in the country. he does conscious dentals so no need for GA and all the risks associated with that, it takes about 10 minutes and very reasonably priced. My Ted last year started having problem eating hay, he had a GA dental at a local vets and was made far worse. His incisors were cut too short and the real problem his molar was not corrected so CC for around 5-6 weeks until his front teeth were long enough to pick food up and get him up to Northampton last July. he has eaten perfectly since.
Bill broke an incisor last year which grew back fine but the root was damaged and now grows very fat and wide and needs regular burring so it doesn’t damage his gums and misalign his other teeth.
I would strongly recommend getting up there if you possibly can, I’ve found no vets down in Cornwall that I feel have any experience with dental piggies.
Some of these suggestions sound very strange to me?
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The improvement your piggies experienced from going to the centre in Northampton is definitely encouraging! It would be difficult to get there but if that’s what will make Storm better we’ll do whatever we can to get him the help he needs! 🙂
 
Laaaauren said:
I’ve just sent them an email explaining everything, from the very first vet visit to his latest. I did try to call several times but it kept going straight to voicemail. We’re going to do whatever it takes to make our little Storm well again - thank you! 🙂
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Debbie is very busy but she will hopefully come back to you when she has time. She has kindly allowed to continue referring those members that really need her input, but we cannot guarantee that she will be able to come back to you immediately; especially on a weekend. ;)
 
Wiebke said:
Debbie is very busy but she will hopefully come back to you when she has time. She has kindly allowed to continue referring those members that really need her input, but we cannot guarantee that she will be able to come back to you immediately; especially on a weekend. ;)
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That’s completely understandable, we’ll continue to monitor Storm and encourage him to eat and drink in the meantime. 😊
 
Laaaauren said:
The improvement your piggies experienced from going to the centre in Northampton is definitely encouraging! It would be difficult to get there but if that’s what will make Storm better we’ll do whatever we can to get him the help he needs! 🙂
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this vet is amazing, my Ted was eating hay straight after he had had that first conscious dental, something he had not been able to do for quite some time. I’m no expert only know about my boys conditions from being told by Simon. Is it Storms back teeth or his front teeth that are causing the problem? Debbie at TEAS was a great help to us, it’s a daunting journey especially the first time but it is well worth the effort and you would get a consultation and options of care from the most experience dental piggie vet in the UK.
The trouble that we have found with vets around Cornwall is although they are very good with Cats and Dogs they lack the amount of footfall with dental piggies because they probably won’t see that many as we have such a small population down here. They are good vets, but lack the skills with piggie dentals, which have to be done perfectly or the piggie will not eat, unlike rabbits that will eat with poor teeth alignment.
Debbie runs TEAS with a couple of volunteers and fits a job as well as looking after special needs piggies and has a heart of gold! she’s extremely knowledgeable when it comes to piggies. See what she has to say when you hear from her. Hope you can get your boy sorted out, I know how dreadful you feel, been there, like many people on the forum and it’s horrible. We are here to offer support x
 
Bill & Ted said:
this vet is amazing, my Ted was eating hay straight after he had had that first conscious dental, something he had not been able to do for quite some time. I’m no expert only know about my boys conditions from being told by Simon. Is it Storms back teeth or his front teeth that are causing the problem? Debbie at TEAS was a great help to us, it’s a daunting journey especially the first time but it is well worth the effort and you would get a consultation and options of care from the most experience dental piggie vet in the UK.
The trouble that we have found with vets around Cornwall is although they are very good with Cats and Dogs they lack the amount of footfall with dental piggies because they probably won’t see that many because we have such a small population down here. They are good vets, but lack the skills with piggie dentals, which have to be done perfectly or the piggie will not eat, unlike rabbits that will eat with poor teeth alignment.
Debbie runs TEAS with a couple of volunteers and fits a job as well as looking after special needs piggies and has a heart of gold! she’s extremely knowledgeable when it comes to piggies. See what she has to say when you hear from her. Hope you can get your boy sorted out, I know how dreadful you feel, been there, like many people on the forum and it’s horrible. We are here to offer support x
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Getting Storm back to eating and drinking properly is the dream! He’s definitely trying his hardest to eat but he’s just having a lot of difficulty doing so.
He’s got a nice bundle of hay at the moment which he’s really doing his best to snack on so we’re really proud of him for that!

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The vet showed us on the x-ray that it’s his front molars which are causing the issue and causing him pain.
All the advice and support has been overwhelming, both my partner and I really appreciate all the help! 😊 x
 
Small piggy said:
I hope storm’s pain doesn’t last long as I know that watching your pet be in pain can break your heart. Stay strong storm ⛈
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Thank you, the support is wonderful! I’m hoping that we caught the issue early enough and there’s still a chance of helping him get back to full health. He’s our little fighter 😊
 
Aw, he’s a little fighter like my Ted, it’s so sad when they are trying their best to eat and can’t manage it. Fingers crossed it’s not for long x My Ted’s pre-molar is his issue, it grows funny and has a peg tooth against it.
 
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