Dental Problems
I know come what I and many owners of guinea pigs consider
to be the worst aspect of veterinary care provided by the
profession for these animals, their dental care.
The ignorance of the subject is a disgrace, and the techniques
that are used to deal with dental problems are the cause of
many, many unnecessary deaths of guinea pigs.
The biggest problem of all is the use of anaesthetic upon
guinea pigs to enable veterinary surgeons to do this work.
Though they are well aware that there are no nerves in the
teeth, they insist that the animal has to be inert to do the
job properly. At the same time they are well aware of the
dangers of anaesthetising reasonably healthy guinea pigs.
To do it to one that is debilitated and half starved as the
result of dental problems as a recipe for disaster.
The same old tired arguments of the animals being too stressed
out to be put on their backs and worked on without an anaesthetic
are trotted out, when our methods are suggested. Nonsense,
total nonsense.
After I have described the various dental problems that occur
in a guinea pig I shall go on to describe the tools and the
techniques used to carry out this work without endangering
the animal's life. I can only hope that pressure from the
guinea pig owning public will eventually get the profession
to adopt our techniques after they have been laid out in black
and white, so to speak.
THERE IS NOW NO JUSTIFIABLE REASON TO USE ANAESTHETICS
UPON GUINEA PIGS TO TRIM THE PREMOLAR AND MOLAR TEETH. TO
DO SO IS TO ENDANGER THE OF LIVES OF THESE ANIMALS UNNECESSARILY!.
I get less dental problems in my stock than most owners because
I practice what I preach and make my animals work for their
food, so consequently they keep their teeth well trimmed by
their grazing activities. However, I cannot stop them getting
abscesses, one of the major causes of dental problems or falling
foul of the many diseases that guinea pig flesh is heir to
which make them go off their food for sometime and consequently
the teeth overgrow. These are the kinds of cases I have had
to deal with in my own stock.
At the first sign of any weight lost think firstly 'what
are the teeth doing,' and secondly, are they up to date on
their worming.'
Towel wrap the guinea pig and examine the incisor teeth.
If the bottom ones are over long and the top ones beginning
to curve inwards then it is a sure sign that something is
wrong inside.
JUST CUTTING INCISOR TEETH BACK IS A TOTAL WASTE OF TIME.
There is an instrument that I use to hold the mouth open
(see above)and I urge all owners to invest in one. It is called
a bucal pad dilator, or separator. It is a simple matter to
insert them as illustrated and once in place the whole of
the inside of the mouth and the dentition can be viewed.
What can be seen is, more often than not, are the pre molar
teeth arching over, or beginning to arch over the tongue.
In more extreme cases the molars may be arching as well.
Less common are the pre molars growing upwards, and sometimes
the molars can be following suit.
The other main scenario is when you look at the incisors
and see that they are impinging at an angle. See illustration.
What you are likely to see in these cases inside the mouth
is that the pre molars are growing across the tongue, or beginning
to on one side only. You may also see some soreness or ulceration
on that side which is usually indicative of a fungal or bacterial
infestation.
What has been happening is that the animal has been favouring
the opposite side when chewing it's food leaving those on
the side where the damaged tissue is, to overgrow.
If, on the other hand, the inside of the mouth looks healthy,
then think, Abscess!. Again it is more likely to be on the
side where the teeth have overgrown, though on one occasion
I came across one on the opposite side, so check both.
With the guinea pig facing away from you, run your fingers
down under both jaws from ears to tip of snout and palpate
very firmly. Many times there will be nothing to feel, but
more often than not the guinea pig will flinch as you hit
a tender spot on the side where the teeth have overgrown.
It will simply be a waiting game until the abscess ripens,
see Abscess, but the dental work can be carried out.
It is essential that these teeth be trimmed back down to
an acceptable level and the tool to do this work with are
the surgical instruments shown, bone roungers. As can be clearly
seen they look like a pair of pliers but have scooped cavities
in the jaws with cutting edges. This means that the piece
of tooth which is cut off remains in the head of the roungers.
This is not a job for the inexpert, and though we have trained
many people to do this work, they are not permitted to use
these skills in saving the lives of animals other than their
own. Because of the restrictive veterinary laws of this country
and the stubborn refusal of the profession to learn from those
with skills outside it's ranks, and it's continued use of
anaesthetics, and outdated techniques, owners animals will
continue to die!.
There is one, relatively rare condition which crops up now
and again in the teeth of guinea pig and it is when the molar
teeth tend to lean inwards at a more acute angle than normal.
What happens is that they wear unevenly and the bottom ones
develop a very sharp edge. Always think of this if all the
other symptoms suggest teeth problems but when you come to
examine the inside teeth they look perfectly normal. The way
to check is to lift up each side of the tongue from where
it lies against the teeth and push it toward the middle of
the mouth so that you can see the under side. Invariably there
is a lesion on each side of the tongue which is inflamed and
obviously causing much pain.
What this problem is caused by, I am not at all sure. It
could be some slight deformity of the jaw, but I have my doubts.
This is because many times after the corrective dental work
is done the problem does not reoccur. I can't see the dental
work curing a deformity!.
The sharpened edge of the teeth can be initially trimmed
back with the small bone roungers and then filed smooth with
the dental rasp.
If the jaws are undershot, then the prognosis is not at all
good. Most animals born with this problem do not survive long.
Those that develop it can sometimes be helped by constant
filing of the back of the top incisor teeth so that the teeth
impinge a little more normally.
Notice that most of what I have described has dealt exclusively
with the bottom teeth inside the mouth. This is because the
top ones seldom give any trouble. They sometimes get badly
worn down one side when there has been the lopsided growth
in the bottom teeth but they quickly grow back again once
after the corrective dentistry one the bottom teeth.
Occasionally, they will grow out, and begin to curve upwards
and must be trimmed back down.
One of the most common injuries to a guinea pig is incisor
tooth damage. This is usually the result of them being dropped
by their owners or leaping out of their hands as they are
lowered back into their quarters or onto the ground, see handling.
If the teeth are very loose as a result of the injury they
are best pulled out. They are going to fall out anyway, within
a short time, but as long as they are left in it is going
to be very difficult for the guinea pig to eat. Once they
are out, the animal quickly learns how to scoop it's food
in if it's the bottom teeth, or manipulate it's tongue to
draw in the food if it's the top ones. Where the cavy has
lost one set of teeth as above, it is advised to trim the
opposite set well back, so that the two sets can regrow in
balance.
If both are knocked out, help with some syringe feeding,
but it is amazing how quickly the teeth come through again
and they get back to normal feeding.
If only one of the top or bottom incisors is lost and the
other remains firm, then the guinea pig simply carries on
as usual. However, check after a week or so, when the new
tooth has really started to grow and trim the good tooth back
down to it's level.
