Broken Hamster Tooth

Question
Hi, My daughter has a male hamster I dont know what type.  He recently began chewing on the metal bars of his cage and last night started to get stuck.  About 3am my daughter woke me up, her hamster was stuck on the bars and squealing.  I got up and noticed he was stuck and one of his front teeth was broken off and his mouth was a little bloody.  I ended up snipping the metal bar and he was able to slide off.  My question is, will this broken tooth harm him?  He seems to be in good spirits. I know that eating will be difficult, so I told my daughter to give him soft food for a bit.  His other front tooth seems to be long and he has a pinecone in his cage which he gnaws on quite often.  Please advise.

Answer
I would suggest first off getting an aquarium cage to prevent this from happening again. Then not only will your hamster not harm himself on the bars, you also won't hear the annoying chewing anymore. As long as the tooth is broken flat it is not a problem. If the tooth is uneven you could clip it yourself (a pair of orthodontic wire snippers has worked for me in the past) but if you don't trust yourself doing this, simply phone the local vet and ask for them to trim the tooth flat. My vet was glad to do this for me.

Also I don't think giving him a pinecone is a good idea. Give him a hard treat to gnaw on instead.