Teeth: Clipping vs. Grinding

[Haley]

Ive been trying to do some research today on teeth trimming and methods of doing so.

Kathy's Mr. Evey has been having to have his teeth trimmed due to malloclusion and the vet here in town (who is more of a cat and dog vet but is trying to learn more about rabbits) is using clippers to trim the teeth. The way they were trimmed today (sort of slanted like it had broken a little) made us question his techniques.

Ive been doing a lot of reading on this in the Library and opinions seem to be mixed. There are a few legit sources that say clipping is fine as long as its done by a professional and we even have an RO thread about how to clip them.

But then theres a lot of newer articles that are very credible that say never to clip and to always use a dental bur to grind them down.

ex:

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=472&S=5&SourceID=43

http://www.ontariorabbits.org/health/healthinfo3.htm

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/2-6/tusks.html

Isthe clipping method outdated and the grinding now recommended?I just wanted to hear some opinions from those who have had experience with trimming.

 

[cmh9023]

I'm looking forward to following this thread. Sherry needs to have her teeth trimmed in January. The vet dentist actually called it having her teeth "filed" so I don't know if that means grinding rather than clipping.

 

[Haley]

Stashing more articles here as I find them:

http://www.theveterinarian.com.au/clinicalreview/article131.asp

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Have you ever seen a horse had its teeth floated? That is my guess of what they do in most cases if they can BUT I am positive that Reese had her teeth cut which was likely due to the length. Extremely long teeth would take extremely long to grind down and would probably irritate the mouth more than it's worth (or not cause the teeth to fall out). So I'm going to say it depends on the length of teeth -- long teeth will probably be cut to minimize impact and shorter teeth might just be ground down. Grinding is probably safer -- less risk of cracking a tooth, at least, that is my guess.

But that's a good question and I too look forward to responses, I'm new to this whole teeth thing!

 

[LuvaBun]

About 18 months ago, I went to a rabbit welfare day at a rescue centre. The people there wouldn't use vets that clipped teeth, only ones that burred them. They said something about clipping could cause them to grow in incorrectly. :?

Jan

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

My Sooty has his teeth trimmed with a clipper like tool, i dont like it and would rather have them filed down with a dremmel or something like that. When reading about the teeth i have read things that say that the clipper is fine, and then others said that they arent and can cause problems. I am at the point of asking my vet, this week, what they think of a removal of the incisors,and getting some vets in the area that would do something like that and making consults and deciding after the holidays.

 

[BlueGiants]

Sometimes it depends on the rabbit, sometimes it depends on the teeth. If the front teeth are really, reallyovergrown, it would require grinding for a long time. Some rabbits can't handle that, and might need to be anesthetized.This would be very stressful on a regular basis, but may be necessary for the initial adjustments.

Another option would be to clip them and then file/grind them. Sometimes this is quicker and less stressful on the rabbit. But clipping requires an experienced handler (vet). The potential for damage is much greater with clippers, but sometimes the speed is necessary.

Once the teeth are at a safe level, maintenance can be done frequently enough that alls the rabbit needs is a short filing/grinding. But again, this can get expensive if done by a vet every 3-4 weeks. And some rabbits won't handle regular trims without getting stressed.

If clipping is done incorrectly, as mentioned, jagged edges can irritate the mouth and tongue, the teeth can split vertically, damaging the root and exposing the rabbit to infection. Poor clipping can also twist or move the teeth, making the situation worse. Incorrectly clipped teeth can snap, crack, loosen and fall out, again exposing the rabbit to infection.

If the rabbit is young, a lot of vets will remove the front teeth. They can adjust very well to eating without their incisors, with only minor adjustments in lifestyle. Hay and fresh food may need to be cut up in smaller pieces.

I think each case needs to be evaluated on a rabbit by rabbit basis. But I would never suggest that someone just clip the teeth.

By the way, did you know that rabbit really have6 incisors? (You can only see 4!) There are2 teeth on the bottom and 4teeth at the front on top, not 2! There are 2 tiny teeth behind the two top teeth that you can see. These 2 "extra" teeth can become a problem if the top front teeth are trimmed incorrectly.

 

[Haley]

Thanks for the input everyone!

BlueGiants wrote:

By the way, did you know that rabbit really have6 incisors? (You can only see 4!) There are2 teeth on the bottom and 4teeth at the front on top, not 2! There are 2 tiny teeth behind the two top teeth that you can see.

Yup, Max had his peg teethremoved along with his four incisors last year and he eats perfectly without all of them.

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Thanks for the info.

Since MBB's Reese had her teeth done, I am paranoid about Pebbles. Maybe I just worry too much about nothing. But you only see the Doctor once a year (maybe two or three times if the bunny is sick), and the rest of the time you have to use your own judgement to have the teeth checked. Usually it's the case of don't fix it until it's broken. But wouldn't it be better to start grinding alittle now than clipping later because it's too long?

I wish Pebbles would eat more hay.

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Pet_Bunny, if Pebbles teeth were fine at her last check up, she is probably fine. I wouldn't recommend trimming them if you don't have to! Once they are ground down/cut, they will continue to need it done and most vets prefer to avoid that as long as they can. If you are really worried, I would guess that you could take her to any vet every few months and just have a vet tech look at her teeth. I wouldn't think that would cost very much at all if its just a vet tech taking a quick look.

 

[Pet_Bunny]

I know. Once you start clipping/grinding, you have to keep going back.

Right now Pebbles is fine, but she is leaving some pellet crumbs in her bowl. Is that what food dropping is?

 

[BlueGiants]

Some bunnies really don't like little pieces ofpellets. My rabbit hate it when there is pellet dust or crumbs, they won't touch it. (OK, maybe they are a little spoiled...). She may just consider the tiny pieces too small to bother with.

 

[Flick]

Exotic vet exams rabbit teeth, includes explanations and x-rays.

[ame=http://youtube.com/watch?v=LtZovDkR18s]http://youtube.com/watch?v=LtZovDkR18s[/ame]

 

[HoneyPot]

Pet_Bunny wrote:

I know. Once you start clipping/grinding, you have to keep going back.

Right now Pebbles is fine, but she is leaving some pellet crumbs in her bowl. Is that what food dropping is?

When Charlie's teeth need doing, he will literally run over to the bowl of food, pick a piece up, and drop it without being able to eat the whole thing - like he'll take a small bite, drop it, and then will ignore it (must be too painful).

Same with Misty. When she is fine, she will take a papya tablet in one breath. When he teeth are bothering her, she has to take a bite of it, drop half of it, then go back to it...

That's what I use to gauge the severity and urgency of teeth issues for my two.. how quick they are on the treats. Speaking of which... we go in tomorrow for a molar trim on both buns.

Nadia

 

[binkies]

Ivory's vet used an instrument used for teeth cleaning. Like a laser? I never saw it, but her teeth were always great looking afterwards. Nice and straight.

 

[Offspring2099]

Looks like everything I was going to say is already answered (clipping might cause split root, which could lead to abscess).

We have to get Penny's teeth trimmed monthly and a few times the vet let me see how its done. Using a dental like dremel and literally takes a few seconds, I can't imagine how stressful a clipping could be. But the trim is like "zip, zip" and she's done. They don't grind it down, but actually cut it of from the side, across.

 

[Evey]

thanks for all the great input!

I'm sure I'm going to use a different vet next month for Mr. Evey :?

-Kathy

 

[ra7751]

Hi All,

Gotta add my little bit here. The best way to handle maloccluded teeth is simply to extract them. It is a bit of a difficult surgery but something we have done before. Initially I wondered if we made the right decision....now I know we did. It was stressful for a couple of days...but the ends justified the means. While it is costly and stressful....once it's done...no morecharges at the vet for trimming and one less stressful event for the rabbit. One word of caution when using a dremel. It is very easy to slice open the corners of the mouth. Our namesake, Sabrina, became so comfortable with a dremel that she knew to open her mouth. It does make a better cut than clipping. But do use extreme caution.

Randy

 

[naturestee]

How is Sherry doing? Was it mainly her molars being done, or her incisors also? Just an FYI if you are ever short on money, my vet clinic is fairly good at molars (Luna's went great!), they use a dremel-type tool, and it's insanely inexpensive. $50 for the grinding (as they call it), anesthesia, pain meds, everything. So if something happens and you have a money crunch... come up and visit! Apparently the Milwaukee shelter refers people to this clinic if they can't afford big city prices.

And for the rest of the list, my vet clinic prefers grinding with dremel-type tools. They say it's faster and causes less stress on the tooth root.

PB, before Luna had her molars done she would leave lots of pellet dust/fragments in the bowl, and she would eat her pellets slowly over the course of the day instead of just chowing down like she does now. I sift my rabbits' pellets to take the dust out whenever I open a new bag, so I know the dust was there from Luna's tooth issues and didn't just come in the scoop of pellets. If you watched you could sometimes see little particles falling out of her mouth as she ate, and she also tended to use one side more than the other.

cmh9023 wrote:

I'm looking forward to following this thread. Sherry needs to have her teeth trimmed in January. The vet dentist actually called it having her teeth "filed" so I don't know if that means grinding rather than clipping.

 

[Pet_Bunny]

naturestee wrote:

PB, before Luna had her molars done she would leave lots of pellet dust/fragments in the bowl,

I am careful when I scoop out pellets (same with hay) for Pebbles as the dust will cause her to sneeze.

I am able to compare Bebe's bowl to Pebble's bowl when they finish eating. Bebe's is always clean to the bottom, where as Pebbles always hasfine fragmented crumbs on the bottom. Part of the problem could be her wet nose (sinus) causing her to eat and breathwith her mouth open. Do they breath through their mouths?

Pebbles is eating well, and I do weigh her every day.
It's just when I decide her teeth is going to be a problem and when I should take her in for a check-up.