Teeth!!!! Grrrrrr

Hi All,

As some of you may remember Daisy has had some problems with an inflamed throat, he has also had to have his teeth done twice. Its all a bit odd.

He was fine for 18 months then he had a bad throat and had to have a dental too. that was 1st oct. Then when he went to see specialist on 20th Dec for throat he had to have 2nd dental (the teeth were already cutting into his tongue.

Now i think his teeth may be playing up again.......as he has again some dribble under his chin....but its less than a month from his last dental. Obviously I cant be sure - and the vets can never see it unless he is under GA.

Has anyone ever heard of teeth growing back so quickly. Surely he cant need it every 4 weeks can he??? He does have a jaw infection - perhaps this is whats making his teeth grow oddly??

I also dont understand is how he could have been fine for 18 months and then this all happening. He eats more hay now than he ever did when i first had him?????

Advice gratefully recieved.....

K x x

Ohh no poor Daisy, I'm afraid to say that I have known plenty of buns that have needed to have dentals on a 4 weekly basis, by the sounds of it, it does sound like his jaw infection could be the cause of this so maybe getting that sorted might help to slow the problem down. Unfortunately in my experience Nethies are one of the breeds that are soo in-bred that genetic problems are quite common.
Maybe if you chat with your vet and you do need a dental, you could possible discuss having the problem teeth removed, I know plenty of gummy buns that live full and happy lives
Is Daisy from a breeder or was he a petshop bun?
Sending healthy teeth vibes your way... I understand the worry, I find out if Bluey is gonna be a permanent dental bun next month

Daisy was from my boss actually his daughters had a couple of girl nethies and then went and got "Romeo" and along came daisy B. I asked him and none of his other buns have had dental problems so maybe their could be something on Romeos side of the family.

What would having a GA every 4 weeks to to his little body? Also if it was an option to remove teeth would they have to do both sides??

Foxglove had hers done every 6 weeks - she was happy in between and not too stressed during. I think you just have to monitor their quality of life. ps the specialist told me to remove the teeth they usually have to break the jaw so molar removal is a last option. front ones are easier although can re grow as Foxy's did 3 times.

racheld69 wrote:Foxglove had hers done every 6 weeks - she was happy in between and not too stressed during. I think you just have to monitor their quality of life. ps the specialist told me to remove the teeth they usually have to break the jaw so molar removal is a last option. front ones are easier although can re grow as Foxy's did 3 times.

I've never had a bun that need teeth removal so I'm not 100% on the surgery, but I have known people that have and I have never heard of a vet having to break a jaw before removing Molars

racheld69 wrote:Foxglove had hers done every 6 weeks - she was happy in between and not too stressed during. I think you just have to monitor their quality of life. ps the specialist told me to remove the teeth they usually have to break the jaw so molar removal is a last option. front ones are easier although can re grow as Foxy's did 3 times.

sorry but that is not true

to remove molars you do not have to break the jaw
my chocolate has had most of her teeth removed, she only has about 4 molars left, they do not break the jaws at all, if they did that the jaw would have to be wired and th anima wouldnt be able to feed itself, if my vet told me that i would swiftly change
front teeth only regrow if the root hasnt being fully removed, again a decent vet will remove all or most of the root, sometimes you can get a tiny grow back but they dont grow to any length and will break off

Sorry to hear about Daisy bun, Katie.

I've had so much conflicting advice over bunny teeth in the past. With Justin I was told they couldn't remove the teeth because they were at the very back and it would cause jaw problems.

I've rescued a few bunnies with dental problems over the years and I remember once I did have to have them done a month apart. With my bunny Daisy (who sadly went to the Bridge last year - but not due to dental problems) my vet learnt to feel the very back of the mouth so he didn't need to have a GA or be sedated for the vet to know when he needed a dental. That vet was the only one who would do that though - and Daisy was a very laid back bunny.

Good luck with your Daisy. It's such a worry when they are poorly. Justin did dribble a bit towards the end and it was actually an infection in his mouth rather than his teeth which cleared up after antibiotics.

Removing molars is a difficult and often last ditch effort to slow down progressive dental issues as the roots run deep into the gum and leverage is difficult. Due to this it is rarely attempted unless the teeth are already weakened and are likely to come out with a bit less force, as it can be very traumatic and may result in the accidental fracture of the jaw, especially in those bunnies who have also been affected by osteomyelitis (which leads to weakening of the mandible) and which tends to go hand in hand with inherant dental conditions (I speak from traumatic experience).

The removal of incisors on the otherhand, whilst still difficult, is much more common and many many rabbits go on to lead happy lives thereafter. I have had one total success, one partial and one complete disaster from going down this route.

Did Daisy have x-rays done at the specialists as this may indicate whether his jaw has come out of alignment, as it is unusual for a rabbit to suddenly need multiple, short-spaced dentals once older without something dramatic changing.

Katie, multiple, shortly spaced GA's can have an affect on liver function I believe....this is why bloods are often recommended before an op, particularly on rabbits showing symptoms of liver or renal failure.

I don't know if this artcle if of interest to you Katie Clicky!

Thanks Sooz (and everyone)

he did have an xray and the vet did also mention that his jaw may be out of allignment before the xray, but he didnt mention it afterwards. Daisy has to go back up in a couple of weeks for a further Xray so im going to take a list of questions with me because it all happened so fast. The specialist said to ring if in the mean time i have any problems. I think ill see how he goes over the weekend (because the sticky could be spat out medicine or something) but if im not entirely happy ill ask on monday if i can bring him back sooner.

Is there anything they can do to put a jaw back into allignment once it has come out - although I wouldnt let the boy go through anything horrid. I am definately NOT keen to take the risk of hurting him having his teeth out.

Oh bunnies are such a worry.

What oral medication is he taking....

It really depends why his jaw has come out of alignment, as mentioned in that article, a trauma to the face such as an impact would probably leave lasting damage but misalignment due to the teeth themselves can sometimes be corrected by careful dentistry as the process of removing spurs can also be accompanied by the adjustment of crown height to ensure the teeth meet correctly and are therefor in wear with the opposing tooth.

With my last serious dental rabbit Mack we attempted to realign his teeth by cutting his incisors in such a way that once back in alignment day to day wear and tear would allow them to stay in occlusion. Sadly in his case it failed and we had his incisors removed to allow his molars to come back into occlusion (he had secondary molar malocclusion to primary incisoral malocclusion). Unfortunately he later developed complex mandibular abcesses which resulted in him being PTS 7 months later.

Poor Daisy, he is such a bonny bunny.

I hope you get some good news about his teeth xx