Teeth cut went below gum line

[Luvmyzoocrew]

A little history Sooty has Malaclussion and has to have his teeth cut, we did , earlier this year, take him to have them removed but he died on the table and they were able to bring him back to me. So now we are at the p oint where he needs them cut. I was taking him to the vet and she did it a few times and showed me how to do it, and three weeks ago i attempted it and i did an ok job, was nervous about taking them to short so i only took off a little. I made an appointment to take him today just to check that i was doing a good enough job and to have her do it so i can watch again until i feel better at doing it. So she cut them and when she cut the bottom one broke down all the way to the gum line. Is this ok, i thought that is what can cause an abcess? I will check in a week to see if i can see it, then every week after that till i can see it , but i want to make sure that it was ok. She said it was ok but i want to know if anyone had anything bad ha ppen to thier bun when the tooth went under the gum line?

 

[Marietta]

I've read that cutting ON the gum line is okay. Cutting UNDER it could be a potential hazard for abscess formation, so you'll have to monitor his mouth for any peculiar lumps till his teeth regrow. Next time he gets his teeth clipped it's best if it's a bit over the gum line, just to be safe. Vet members and other having experienced this kind of situation shall chime in to give their advice and opinion, I'm sure. In the Greek rabbit forum I'm a member, somebody's bun accidentaly broke both his upper incisors way under his gum line, his teeth regrew, and the area is kept abscess-free till today, 3 months from the incident.

Marietta

 

[Maureen Las]

In an ideal world.. teeth should not be clipped. Individuals should not be clipping their own rabbits teeth. What you are describing could be a major and painful problem. Clipping applies too much pressure to the entire tooth in many cases causing the roots to die or splitting the tooth (which is what occurred) This , of course will lead to an abscess or decaying tooth which is a greater problem.

I , by experience, know that sometimes we need to do the best we can when we do not have truly rabbit saavy vets so this is not condemnation of any kind.
If you can find another vet it would be ideal . No vet should be telling you to do teeth yourself.


Teeth should be filed under anesthesia . In very experienced hands a burrcan be used .

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

Marietta they werent purposely cut under the gum line the tooth did crumble , so he only has one on the bottom for right now. I am worried about an abcess so i will defintely have to keep an eye on it , if he gets an abcess t hen we will have no choice and i will have to take him to the Unniversity of Penn to have them taken out.



Angieluv, I have read the pros and cons on both ways but no one around here uses a drummel to file teeth so clipping seems to be the only option. My vet is very rabbit savy otherwise. Putting him under anesthesia is un realistic because he gets his teeth done every 3- 4 weeks and there is no way i would be able to afford something like that once a month and dont think it is good for him to be under the stress and anesthecia every month? About me not doing it, i know alot of people here and elsewhere that cut thier own rabbits and piggies teeth.



I will just have to pray that it comes back without incident. I would just rather have his teeth taken out but seeing as the last time we went that route he died on me i dont think we will be doing that unless it is necessary.

 

[Maureen Las]

I totally understand ....

I, too, have started to do a lot of things myself that I really feel should be done by a vet but since circumstances make that impossible I do what I have to do


I happen to have a really rabbit saavy dentist that does my Beau's teeth which is why I have some info on teeth. He has had multiple extractions , realignment of the mouth and a lot of filing. Very very expensive

Now if I could only get a really rabbit saavy vet!

I really hope that Sooty does OK.

 

[Marietta]

Yes, dear luvmyzoocrew, I understood that the tooth was not cut down under the gum line on purpose and that it accidentally broke. What I meant to say is couldn't your vet cut a bit over next time, in order to avoid another crack? I wouldn't know -maybe this is not possible- because, thank God, I never had a bun with malocclusion problems. In regard to clipping the teeth yourself, I admire your courage, I couldn't do it. I know that a non-expert is not supposed to do so, but, on the other hand, I feel for you, because, as I've said numerous times in the past, in my country we have no rabbit expert vets, let alone dentists, so we, rabbit parents, have no choice but try to learn to do things ourselves, as much as possible. I wishyouthat no abscess forms in his jaw and that the tooth regrows without any consequences. Let us know how it goes.

Marietta

 

[juliew19673]

I have my paws crossed for Sooty that the tooth grows back out just fine.. and Wow, I can't even trim Baxter!'s nails myself - so I'm quite impressed with your ability to try to trim teeth! and understand completely why you are - just wanted to give you a pat on the back.

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

Thanks, i havent even cut his nails,lol, but i have his teeth,lol. I will check this week and see how it is going, he is eating hay and veggies fine and acting normal so hopefully he will be ok.

 

[cuddlebug]

Just hope everything is ok. Since I am new to this, how do you trim their teeth and when should it be done. Thanks for the advice.

 

[cuddlebug]

 

[cuddlebug]

juliew19673 wrote:

I have my paws crossed for Sooty that the tooth grows back out just fine.. and Wow, I can't even trim Baxter!'s nails myself - so I'm quite impressed with your ability to try to trim teeth! and understand completely why you are - just wanted to give you a pat on the back.

I see your from the West Hollywood area. I plan on moving to Santa Clarita. Can you recommend a good rabbit vet in that area? Thanks

 

[juliew19673]

Yes Dr. Lavac of West lA VCA (on Wilshire in Santa Monica). He truly loves bunnies and has an exotic vet hospital. only problem is his is not a 24/7 place and not many hospital around West LA are.. But Lavac is great - highly recommened and also there is another in Glendale that is VCA affilited (funny, I've never liked VCA for cats but for buns they seem pretty knowledgeable, but more expensive)..

If you can't google him - feel free to pm me and I'lll get it for you (can't switch browsers at the moment or my puter will crash).. my email (for anyone) is [email protected] - comes through on my home, work and blackberry so I don't miss much..

Hope You and Sootyare doing ok tonight!

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

cuddlebug wrote:

Just hope everything is ok. Since I am new to this, how do you trim their teeth and when should it be done. Thanks for the advice.

Well you should never trim your rabbits teeth unless it is neccessary, and unless your rabbit has Malaclussion then you should never have to do it. Sooty has malaclussion, where his teeth need to be trimmed. I would also never have done it myself if not given instructions by my vet, I would never reccommend anyone doing teeth unless instructed on how to do so by a vet. Of course if you would ever suspect anything is wrong with your rabbits teeth you would have to take them to a vet so that the teeth can be evaluated and the back teeth can be checked. Sometimes when the front teeth are not aligned right it will throw the back teeth off causing them to need to be filed (which is only done under anesthesia) .



For rabbit with teeth like this they can be removed and a rabbit successfully live and function with no front teeth, we have a few buns on RO that have no front teeth and do fine. Sooty unfortunately went in for the surgery and died on the table, and by the grace of God was brought back from the Rainbow Bridge. If i ever have to consider this surgery again i have to take him to a university doctor where they will intubate him and have other anesthesia available to them.



Thanks for asking everyone he is still doing good and nothing "seems" to be wrong but i will keep a close eye on him and report back to everyone and let you know how he is doing.

 

[cuddlebug]

I will keep your bunny in my prayers. When mine had GI stasis, and had to administer meds. I was fit to be tied. They said if I don't give him the meds he could die. I was determined to nurse him back to health. I watch his stool sample to make sure it does not occur again. I don't know what I would do with out him. I know exactly how you feel.

 

[MsBinky]

Ohhh I am sorry about your Sooty's problems. I don't remember my bun's tooth having broken that far honestly so I can't really give you any feedback. My experience with malocclusion was not a good one at all but I also didn't have the best vet. I completely sympathize with you.

Just thought I would say, many vets are willing to show someone how to trim teeth at home. Malocclusion can be very costly and require trips to the vets on a regular basis. It's not exactly the best to be doing them at home, but sometimes it is the only option. As you see, a tooth can break whether the vet does it or someone else does. Not to scare anyone, but with malocclusion tooth removal is best. When it can't be done, you just do the best you can to prevent anything happening. It's not a pleasant situation.