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Once a dental pig always a dental pig?

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Shellza

Shellza

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One of the new pigs I am looking after had to have dental treatment just before coming to me. I am wondering if this means he will have to have routine dental work and if so, what are the signs I have to look out for if his teeth do get worse?

P.S he is 4 years old if that's any help.
 
I would say yes. Hector had a dental problem and I was 'hoping' that it wouldn't reoccur and it did but then sadly he died a week after his second teeth treatment.

Just obv look out for weight loss, wanting to eat but cant, dribbling, overgrown incisors
 
OK, I'll keep an eye on him :). Stupid question mallethead, but how do you know if the incisors are overgrown? They always look pretty long to me lol.
 
It usually means repeat treatment.

Look out for weight loss! It is VERY important that you weigh a dental piggy regularly - it is the best indicator of how much it's actually eating, as it is not always obvious from normal observation.

Dribbling, eating more slowly; trying to eat, but not being really able to are symptoms of more advanced problems.

Unless the incisors are not properly aligned, the problem is almost always caused by spurs in the molar (back) teeth. Normally, incisors sharpen each other and do not overgrow.

http://www.guinealynx.info/teeth.html
 
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It usually does need to be repeated. My Smores had overgrown molars. He was fine for a while after his teeth trimming, but it came back. :(
 
Weight loss is key! Weigh every day.

A dental piggie doesn;t necessarily remain a dental pigie requiring intensive treatment......

Grommie had his teeth done once...and didn;t need a repeat visit for 6 monts.
Other piggies on here need dentals every 2-4 weeks.

Careful monitoring by the vet should enable you to determine if your piggie fits into the former or latter categories


My 4 year old Willow has just been diganosed with overgrown molars ...I didn;t suspect, we were worried abut other stuff(post-op complications) at the time and I happened to mention he'd lost weight over the last two weeks. Immediate dental inspection, found he had slightly overgrown molars....not that bad...but enough to say we need to do something about it if he loses any more weight over next two weeks.

Hope his problem isn;t something requiring very frequent attention...a really cavy savvy vet or a rodentologist should be able to advise


x
 
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