Incisor Malocclusion

[Lhucky]

Toothsie, my 8 months old suffering from Incisor molocclusion.

We've decided to opt for tooth extraction since his becoming more harder to handle clipping his teeth every month. In this photos, my husband managed to clip only 1 tooth from below and his upper teeth were already curling inside.

And I find his head some what deformed. Rubbing his nose, it feels like a plateau. he have a bulky nose, then flat head, and it looks like his hair above the nose is thinning. And it looks like he have a dimple above his nose. Is that because of molocclusion or another ailment?

Lastly, would it be okay if we have him fixed and get his teeth extracted the same day? Or 1 operation at a time? His eating fine, although lesser. I'm not sure if he can manage 2 operation at once. His operation is scheduled on Monday. We still have 6 days, were there anything we can do to help him get through 2 operations?

 

[majorv]

Have you had x-rays taken of his head? I wouldn't think malocclusion would cause the ridge above his nose. If he's always had this then I'm thinking that maybe the jaw is misformed and is causing the teeth to malocclude. Slim possibility of a tumor or something in the area, but an x-ray would tell you whether it's a bone problem or something else.

 

[Lhucky]

oohh, ok. Will get him x-ray on Monday. Thank you.

 

[Maureen Las]

I agree that you need to get both head and dental x-rays done before doing anything. Had you planned on getting only upper and lower incisors removed ?
My experience is that oftentimes if the incisors are occluded that the entire mouth including molars may be problematic . The dental surgery could turn into something greater than you had anticipated and it would be better to know that ahead of time .

 

[Lhucky]

Ok. now I'm scared.

 

[JBun]

You will want to ensure your vet is actually experienced with dental extractions in rabbits, as rabbits have open rooted teeth and extraction isn't just a simple procedure. I would be a bit concerned if your vet hasn't taken xrays before wanting to attempt such a procedure, that it might be an indication of inexperience. If you are concerned that your vet doesn't have the experience for this, another option would be to continue with tooth trimmings, but have your vet help with the tooth trimmings instead of attempting to do it yourselves.

If you do go ahead with the incisor extraction, it would probably be better to have the neuter done at another time unless the vet finds that the extraction goes smoothly and can continue with a neuter without putting your bun at risk.

Here is some info on dental extractions.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Dental_diseases/Differential/Rabbit_dentistry.pdf
http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00..._TechniquesRabbit/IncisorExtractionRabbit.htm

 

[Lhucky]

Here's the x-ray of Toothsie. Vet said aside from his miss aligned incisors, his skull looks normal.

I've decided to just continue trimming the front teeth, because vets saying something that he have 2 layers of teeth. Which I don't have any idea what that means.

at first I thought when tooth extraction is made, it would be like humans that it needs to stich it up when my wisdom tooth was removed. but he said he can't stich the wound when tooth was extracted. it's very risky for me.

 

[Lhucky]

Rabbits tooth trimming: http://youtu.be/m-yn6q_727Q

Here's the video of how his tooth trimmed.

Can this be done without an anesthesia? lastly, we can't do this at home. Clipping was way more faster than using machineries. how are we going to trim his tooth now?

 

[JBun]

It looks like your vet is 'burring' the teeth. That is actually the recommended way to trim a rabbits overgrown teeth. But yes it does need to be done under general anesthetic. Clipping teeth is a way to trim a rabbits teeth, but it is not usually recommended because there is a chance it can cause micro fractures in the teeth that could possibly lead to infection developing.

To keep his teeth trimmed you would either need to continue to have your vet trim them regularly, or do what you originally were going to do and have the incisors removed. If you are still wondering if incisor removal might be the best option, maybe talk to your vet about it, find out how experienced they are with it, if they have done many tooth extractions on rabbits, and how successful the extractions were. If you can afford to have the extraction done and your vet is experienced with doing it, that would certainly be the best option instead of having your bun frequently put under GA for the teeth to be trimmed every few weeks.

It just depends on if you feel your vet is experienced enough to do this. From the video of the burring of your rabbits teeth, they at least appeared to know what they were doing in respects to that.

One thing to be aware of with extractions, there is a possibility that the teeth may grow back and if so, you would have to have the tooth extraction done again.

 

[Lhucky]

If we opt for extraction, it really is an open wound? Cannot be stitched up? Isn't an open wound more susceptible to bacteria which will lead to more complications? And if teeth grows back, will the bite be corrected?

Vet's saying something about 2 layers of teeth based on the x-ray, near the cursor. what do he mean by that?

And what are the side effects of getting anesthesia every 2 or 3 months in a rabbit?

 

[whiskylollipop]

Weird! It does look like two layers of teeth. See the long incisor teeth in front and what looks like shorter teeth growing right behind it?

I don't think an extraction wound is going to get infected. I have had teeth extracted and the open wounds healed fine. Saliva is antibacterial. In any case, I'm sure they will give Toothsie antibiotics to make sure nothing happens, talk it over with the vet if you have any concerns, that's what they're there for! I'm not sure about the side effects of anaesthesia but it know it does stress bunnies out a lot.

 

[JBun]

The wound can be sutured closed if there is no infection present, or it can be left open to close on it's own, though leaving it open could make it more at risk for infection developing. So if your vet doesn't want to suture it closed, maybe ask if there is a particular reason why.

• "Suture the alveolus (or leave it open)
  • Leave the alveolus open to granulate, or suture the gingiva closed over the alveolus
  • Suturing can prevent food entering the alveolus, and may improve cosmetic appearance. (J513.6.w3)
  • Do not suture if the alveolus is infected. (J513.6.w3)" (2)
    

If the teeth were to grow back, there's really no way to know if they would grow back properly aligned until it has happened. But it's not likely they would if the malocclusion is due to a genetic problem such as with the rabbits jaw development.

What your vet is referring to with the two sets of teeth, is the rabbit's peg teeth. Those are the small tooth growths directly behind the front incisors. Hopefully this information isn't a surprise to your vet and is something they were already aware of, since all rabbits have them. They would need to be removed as well, along with the top and bottom incisors.
"All 6 incisors should be removed." (1)

If you opt to have the surgery done, you will need to make sure your rabbit receives post operative pain meds and antibiotics. You also need to keep an eye on your rabbits eating and drinking afterwards, and may need to assist with syringe feeding a recovery food if he isn't eating well on his own.
"Analgesia must be provided in the post-operative period." (1) Usually meloxicam, or opiate meds if something stronger is needed.
"Provide postoperative antibiotics to reduce the risk of infection and abscess development. (B600.7.w7) e.g. enrofloxacin, 10 mg/kg orally once daily for 7 - 10 days." (2)

The answers to many of your questions are in these two links that I posted previously.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Dental_..._dentistry.pdf (1)
http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00M...tionRabbit.htm (2)


The side effects of having anesthesia mainly has to do with the risks involved while the rabbit is actually under the anesthesia, as well as the few days following while recovering. The difficulties with repeated anesthesia and dentals, mostly has to do with the risk of putting a rabbit under, as well as the repeated stress of going to the vet, and the recovery period after a dental. Going under anesthesia will also get more difficult as your rabbit gets older(7+ years). If your rabbit dealt with this last dental well and it doesn't seem to stress him too much, and he recovers well after the dental and anesthesia, then having his teeth regularly trimmed may be the way to go instead of extraction. However if having his teeth trimmed regularly will be very stressful for him, and you are worried about him having repeated anesthesia, then extraction may be the best option if you feel your vet is competent and has the experience to do it.

The most important aspect when considering whether to go ahead with dental extraction, is if your vet has experience doing this with rabbits, as there are risks with this type of procedure and you want to make sure your vet knows what they are doing. So that is something you will need to find out by talking to your vet.

 

[Lhucky]

Our vet actually recommend trimming and clipping. maybe we'll do just that for now.

Thanks for helping me find answers. JBun, I was so busy the past weeks, that I did not read the link, but appreciate the help very very much.

 

[whiskylollipop]

Peg teeth! Wow, the more you know! I didn't even know bunnies had such things. Jenny, you're a treasure trove of bunny info