tooth abscesses in rats

Question
Why would a mature rat develop a tooth abscess? Could it be caused by trauma during surgery 3 weeks previously, e.g. tube inserted into mouth for anaesthesia?
My 2year old, active and apparently healthy had lumps between her front limbs removed by my rat vet, hopefully to enable at least 6 more happy months. 3 weeks later swollen left eye, Synulox, Metacam, Fucithalm and Geltears which has improved the eye, but she no longer eats solid food. The lower incisors are growing scewed to the left so have been trimmed. There is a tooth abscess still lingering so still have Synulox and the teeth will now possibly need trimming every fortnight.
The vet has explained the extreme difficulties of extracting rat incisors - this is definitely not on - so we are continuing Synulox, Metacam and new eyedrops.
However, did the possibly unnecessary lump removal cause further suffering for my rat and actually more imminent death? Or is it just fighting over food that causes facial injuries and then tooth abscess? Is anything known?

Not urgent, just face/eye/teeth problems seem a bit common in my rats over the last five years. I would love to know  more about this.

Answer

You need another vet.  Removing a rats incisors is not a huge deal. 3 minutes under anesthesia and its out.  The tooth does not grow back but the rat still does fine with eating. I advised clients to feed soft foods such as soften up lab blocks in warm water first and of course since I dont advise seed mixes for their diet, no need to worry about them eating seeds. Alot of the ingredients in the recipes for healthy homemade rat food listed on my webpage should also be easy to eat with an incisor missing.  They are shaped like the letter "C" and make a scissor type motion when chewing.  
As for how she has this? its not from surgery, as we do not intubate rats to give anesthesia.

It sounds like she had a mammary tumor removed (it was in a prime location for that) and if her teeth are growing crooked, she may have malocculsion. This is usually inherited and it occurs when the rats jaw is not aligned properly due to possible malformation of the jaw. When the rat chews, they grind and file their own teeth which is why rats do not have to be given anything hard to gnaw on in order to grind their teeth down. They simply like to chew so we provide them with chew toys so satisfy their gnawing habit.  If the tooth is infected it could indeed cause problems with the eye or vice versa.  

I suggest the tooth be removed by a qualified exotic vet that has more knowledge about what is going on. Apparently he is not well versed if he is saying not to pull the tooth.