Rabbit wet chin

Question
Hi,
I have a 6yr old Dwarf Lop Rabbit who currently has a very wet chin, is grinding his teeth & is licking his chin a lot. He has had teeth problems since the age of 1.  He has had his front teeth removed & every so often has his back teeth filed. I have taken him to the vets & one of his molars had a spike on it (the rest of his teeth were ok, so it was filed & I was given Fuciderm Cream to apply to his wet chin for a week (this seemed to help). That was about 3 weeks ago, but, unfortunately his wet chin has come back with a vengeance.  He normally has a period of several months between his teeth filing. He is eating & drinking normally. Assuming it is not his teeth this time, what other conditions can cause this sort of problem?  I do intend taking him back to my vets but it would be useful to know what else can cause this, I did read that problems with the liver can result in a wet chin; any truth in that? Please advise.

Thanks

Answer
Dear Catherina,

Drooling/wet chin are classic signs of dental problems.  Prime suspects, as you already know, are molar spurs.  But be sure the vet you are seeing is aware of the largely cryptic problem of *buccal* spurs on the upper arcade of molars.  These can actually poke into the cheek and become nearly invisible, even on deep oral exam.  Filing these off (or cutting them first, and then filing) can give the bunny tremendous relief.

You can see a picture of what the two types of molar spurs look like here:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/pix/molar_spurs.jpg

The buccal type can be quite subtle and hard to notice, but they can cause major pain and drooling problems.  They are not always as distinct and obvious as the ones I've Photoshopped into that picture.

This may be a lifelong maintenance thing for your bunny, and the reasons are explained here:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/dental.html

I hope this helps.

Dana