Bunny chewing with no food in mouth

Question
Hi,
    I have had my dwarf bunny for over 6 years.   I can't give you an exact age, because he was an adult when he came from the shelter, but I would guess 7-8 years old.
    Since Tuesday, he has become extremely stubborn as to most of his foods except for pellets.   His daily "beloved" treats such as apple, carrot, romaine lettuce, hay and parsley are no longer desired.   He is not making a grinding sound with his teeth, but seems to be chewing the way a human chews bubble gum.   I took him to the vet who checked his teeth, but she said she might have to put him out to check his back teeth.   He is still functioning well, very active and eating lots of pellets, drinking, going to the bathroom, etc.  
    In the past he had one episode with what was likely GI Stasis, and I was treating him like this was GI, but after 2 days of watching his new habits and actions, I am starting to think it is dental.   Sorry to ramble, but I wanted to know if the "chewing" sounds dental vs. the GI Stasis which more often seems to have clicking teeth.   
Thanks so much!

Answer
Dear Robert,

A 7-8 year old dwarf rabbit (a short-faced breed that often develops molar problems) who's "chewing gum" just screams "molar spurs!"

Please see:

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

Some experienced vets don't need to put a rabbit under anesthesia to have a look at the molars, but the benefit of doing so is that if there *are* problems, the vet can file them right away, with minimal stress to the bunny.  She also can open the mouth much wider to check for problems deep in the back, and have time to address the much more difficult to file buccal spurs that can form on the top molars and press into the cheek, causing a lot of discomfort.

I think it's important that you have the deep mouth exam ASAP, and I'm betting this problem is molar spurs.  Stress/pain from these can actually *elicit* GI problems, so the sooner this is addressed, the better.

Hope this helps.

Dana