overgrown teeth and eating

Question
my rat was sick and she was given an antibiotic.  I didn't think she would make it and expected her to be gone each morning.  But she did pull through pretty well.  I was feeding her baby food while she was sick and now her teeth and overgrown.  She is going to the vet tomorrow.  If the vet can fix her teeth will she go back to eating on her own?  Will I need to continue her on baby food?  Will her teeth continue to need to be fixed or will she be OK if she starts to eat like she used to?   Thanks, Heidi

Answer
Hi Heidi,
I'm glad your rat is feeling better, but I think you may have a more underlying issue at hand. Rats don't just develop malocclusion suddenly, no matter what they're eating. Their jaws are aligned in such a way that during the natural scheme of things, their teeth rub against each other and are ground down as a result. Malocclusion is generally caused by a malnutrition issue in their younger days, a trauma to the head/neck/jaw region, or something else equally as drastic.

How severe are her teeth overgrown? Is it cutting into her lips or overgrowing her jaw? Is it preventing her from eating solid foods? Basically, how did you arrive at the conclusion that your rat is malcclused, or have you had experience with this before? Before you allow the vet to trim her teeth, ask him/her if they have had any experience with rat teeth before. If they say no, refuse the procedure and go to a vet who is very familiar with rat teeth. Many vets think rat teeth are overgrown when they are in reality just fine, and trimming their teeth is not only stressful, but painful.

If she is in fact truly malcclused and your vet knows of what he/she speaks, this will be an ongoing dental problem and you will need continual trimmings, however your rat will be able to eat normal foods so long as you're capable of keeping up your end of the care in noting when her teeth are beginning to bother her.