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Jules teeth

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mojules

mojules

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Morning all

I noticed Jules was struggling with a piece of carrot last night so OH got him out and checked his teeth. When he had been at the V.E.T previously for weight loss the vet said his teeth were a bit uneven but they were still growing straight and that they were ok.

They are now slightly longer but still one tooth on top and bottom is longer than the other :(- he is booked in tonight to see a vet but what I wondered was is could they file the teeth done without anaesthetic.

He has been getting hard veggies and always has plenty of hay - is there anything else that I could do to keep his teeth down once they have been filed?

Thanks muchly
 
Karen, when you say one tooth is longer than the other on top and bottom teeth, do you mean the teeth are slanting, a bit like this?:

Teethbefore.jpg


CharlieteethaMarch08.jpg


If so, back teeth need seeing to I'm afraid. Incisors can be sorted without anaesthetic by more vets, but if the incisors are slanting it can point to overgrowth of molars.
 
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Laura that is exactly what they are like both sets - they are quite smooth but just each set has one tooth longer than the other :(

he has had his back teeth seen to before with anaesthetic so it sounds like he needs the same again - I don't mind getting them done as i would do anything for him and Mo

Can you suggest anything other hard veggies, wood sticks ect to keep his teeth down once they have been seen to this time :)

Thanks again Laura x
 
To be honest I don't think you can do any more to prevent it, you give hay, all I could say if you wanted to try and encourage more chewing is to stimulate his interest in hay even more, by giving more types of hay. You could also give some grass, although not as rough for the teeth to grind down I think there is something in grass that still works the teeth well. It's another topic I need to investigate further!

I should add some info regarding the pics I posted, first pig was Tuppence who had molar problems as well, the pic was taken the the earliest stages of her dental problems i.e. that was the first sign something wasn't right with her teeth. She was a long term dental pig, never got over her issues and she did lose an incisor along the way!

Second pig was Charlie who had his molars checked but no problems were found; I don't know how his problem would have developed as I lost him ten days later due to his other medical issues. Charlie just had his incisors evened up.

Slanting incisors don't always mean the molars are troublesome but more often than not, it's because the molars are uneven (starting to overgrow on one side).
 
Laura-CCC4 said:
To be honest I don't think you can do any more to prevent it, you give hay, all I could say if you wanted to try and encourage more chewing is to stimulate his interest in hay even more, by giving more types of hay. You could also give some grass, although not as rough for the teeth to grind down I think there is something in grass that still works the teeth well. It's another topic I need to investigate further!

I should add some info regarding the pics I posted, first pig was Tuppence who had molar problems as well, the pic was taken the the earliest stages of her dental problems i.e. that was the first sign something wasn't right with her teeth. She was a long term dental pig, never got over her issues and she did lose an incisor along the way!

Second pig was Charlie who had his molars checked but no problems were found; I don't know how his problem would have developed as I lost him ten days later due to his other medical issues. Charlie just had his incisors evened up.

Slanting incisors don't always mean the molars are troublesome but more often than not, it's because the molars are uneven (starting to overgrow on one side).
Click to expand...

Thanks Laura :)

Would readigrass help him any?we have in the past put little blocks of wood in and they have both been seen chewing on them though they tend to chuck it around the place as well lol

I will let him loose on the wooden toy we got in the hamper from SophieW as I have seen him chewing on the hidey house that is in their cage - he is still eating muesli, pellets, veggies and drinking just as much as usual (between you and me I think he has a drink problem :)) )

Will post later after been at the V.E.T to let you know how he is
 
Readigrass would be good, yes. Great that he is eating well still, hopefully if any dental work does need doing it will be minimal and won't upset him too much. Although I'm sure all that matters to him is that he can drink... :))

The main "trouble" with giving them chewing/gnawing toys e.g. blocks of wood or twigs, is that it only works the incisors - not the molars. Hence why I just don't bother. Hay's the biggie!
 
Laura-CCC4 said:
Readigrass would be good, yes. Great that he is eating well still, hopefully if any dental work does need doing it will be minimal and won't upset him too much. Although I'm sure all that matters to him is that he can drink... :))

The main "trouble" with giving them chewing/gnawing toys e.g. blocks of wood or twigs, is that it only works the incisors - not the molars. Hence why I just don't bother. Hay's the biggie!
Click to expand...

Great I will get some tonight or tomorrow as I have spotted it somewhere locally :))

They said the last time it wasn't much that needed done and that was a wee while ago that he had it done maybe May this year or earlier I can't quite remeber all I remeber is howling my eyes out when i handed him to the Nurse to have it done lol

If I (or rather my OH) wanted to try and check back teeth how would we go about it without losing a finger or two?x
 
No guarantees on not losing a finger or two Karen...lol. Once you get the hold of the incisors right you're ok, I've let my slip falter a couple of times though which was a painful mistake!

There are some tips in this thread:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=30551
Feeling the back teeth can give you an idea when you're used to what normal teeth are like, but I have to say I have found seeing the teeth more helpful.

Follow up on what I said in that thread, I was scared to use the buccal pad separators until a few months ago, I coated the ends of the cheek separator part in PlastiDip rubber coating, my worries magically floated away!
 
Karen,
if you do want to try some fruit tree twigs, my trees need pruning again, if you are in carlisle at all (i'm just up the road from p@h).:))
blendbetter at westlinton normally has readigrass if you get stuck more local to you.
Becca
 
boozyfruits said:
Karen,
if you do want to try some fruit tree twigs, my trees need pruning again, if you are in carlisle at all (i'm just up the road from p@h).:))
blendbetter at westlinton normally has readigrass if you get stuck more local to you.
Becca
Click to expand...

Becca that would be grand thanks - do your guinea pigs love them?dont want to take them away from yours :))

I'm off tomorrow so will try and get to Blendbetter if no luck locally though I have the gas man coming and also a docs appointment to try and locate my voice :( but if not tomorrow I will get sorted on Saturday if that would be alrite to come down then ?
 
Well that was painless for both Jules & Mo and my bank balance :)

Jules' teeth were extremely long so they were promptly trimmed without any fuss whatsoever he was a very good boy and sat in his cosy the whole time :)) the vet then checked his back teeth and said that all looked fine but they would keep an eye on them

Then Maurice was brought out the hamper basket and was a more wriggly patient but still sat and got his bottom teeth trimmed top ones were fine then he went back into his basket and they are now both back at home :(|)
 
Well, you can't ask for any better than that! I do hope it's the end of the matter, interesting if it really is just those incisors that are affected and not molars......but perhaps you've caught him early both times, got him seen to before the molars really overgrew, and because Jules has been eating by himself he's been maintaining them himself better than other dental pigs....food for thought! The theory can be fine tuned but it's got me thinking.

Hope you manage to locate your voice by the way, did you have to write to the vet insead of speak to him? :))
 
Laura-CCC4 said:
Well, you can't ask for any better than that! I do hope it's the end of the matter, interesting if it really is just those incisors that are affected and not molars......but perhaps you've caught him early both times, got him seen to before the molars really overgrew, and because Jules has been eating by himself he's been maintaining them himself better than other dental pigs....food for thought! The theory can be fine tuned but it's got me thinking.

Hope you manage to locate your voice by the way, did you have to write to the vet insead of speak to him? :))
Click to expand...

Yeh I hope we have caught it in time - we have seen the vet we saw last night before adn he would have said if the molars were overgrown so its good that I can trust him that way :)

My voice is back albeit I sound like Barry White lol - funny story there I whispered to my mum and she phoned the vets for me hehe but we decided to get a takeaway for tea so I wrote down a wee note and bless the man in the shop he said it was fine and had a wee chuckle :))

Thanks for all your advice x
 
Hi

Just thought I would add a little to the problem of slanted front teeth, as has already been said one of the most common resons for this is when oone set of mollars start over growing and this makes the mouth go wonky (thats the technical term):)). The other problem that has the exact same result is when one set of mollars don't grow fast enough, this is actualy a bigger problem than over growth as unlike over growth that only requires one set of mollars to be trimmed, under growth requires 3 sets to be trimmed so they all match the short set.

The other problem is that it is normally the result of a genetic problem and one it starts it can seldom be totaly corrected and regulare dental work for the rest of the piggies life is often the result.

Hope it all goes well for yours.

Regards

SGP
 
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