Molar spur formation

Question
Hi Dana,

My bunnies (elderly) who have misaligned molars (due to aging and changes to tooth roots)have regular dentals due to overgrown crowns and spurs. I am just wondering if you can clarify for me that in rabbits who form spurs due to acquired dental disease and whose teeth do not line up correctly, is it the grinding on hay and tougher vegetables, rather than softer foods that would speed up the formation of spurs in their cases.  As I understand it, as their teeth are not healthy, hay would not be as good for them as hay would encourage spurs faster as they form because its not that they grow, but because the continually growing molars experience wear and the spurs are the 'unwearing' parts of the molars?

If the above is true, my 9 year old bunny had a dental a few weeks ago and she couldn't eat after it.  I had to syringe feed her nearly the whole time for 9 days after it.  When I took her back to my vet, she found more spurs which she said were visible with magnification.  Has she missed these spurs from the first time?  She couldn't have done much grinding from syringe feeding?  

Secondly, can you give me your opinion on the following.  I had my other rabbit (10yrs old) into a new vet at end of Oct'07 for treatment of spurs and overgrown crowns.  Inbetween 29/10/07 to 6/12/07 I had this rabbit in to see my vet 6 times, because she couldn't eat and presented with her usual molar spur signs.  She was examined under GA about 4 times and the very last time she was seen - on 6/12/07 my vet said she saw a a spur at the base of her gum on the most back molar.  She left me a note saying her gum was infected too.  She said she was ringing me back the next day but didn't, my 10 year old was very distressed after the dental and was whimpering.  Three days later I went back to her and she said she hadn't seen the spur before and that she might have injured her gum - hence the infection, only on this day - 3 days later, did she also give me antibiotics for her.

I am very upset that my rabbit had to undergo 6 weeks of not being able to eat hardly anything herself, had to undergo numerous vet trips and then be told a spur was there afterall and now she has an infected gum.  My vet told me she was very thorough in all the exams that she did.  

I do understand that accidents can happen, but she didn't tell me about it on the day and also I don't understand why she said she didn't see the spur untill the 4th GA in about 5 weeks.  My bunny was doing classic spur signs all along.  

Would appreciate your opinions on this and also the clarification about spur formation and higher fibre foods speeding it up.

Thanks very much,


Susan  

Answer
Dear Susan,

The first thing I'd do is to find another rabbit vet for a second opinion and new exam.  If you have had this much trouble with the vet you are now seeing, your rabbits deserve a chance at finding a veterinarian who may be more adept at examining and solving dental problems.  If you are in the UK, then I would try to visit Dr. Frances Harcourt-Brown:

http://www.any-uk-vet.co.uk/harcourt-brown/

If you are in the US, then you may be able to find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

I have heard of rabbits coming home from a dental filing so sore that they could not eat for days, and for the life of me I cannot fathom what those vets are doing to cause that much pain.  A molar filing should be a relatively minor affair, unless the vet holds the mouth open too wide, causing painful injury to the jaw hinge and associated structures.  

A careful filing should not result in significant soft tissue damage, though the occasional scrape, abrasion or small cut may be unavoidable.  But pain medication should take care of this, and since the mouth mucosa heal very quickly, it should not cause the bunny grief for many days, as you describe.

Don't withhold hay.  Hay promotes a side-to-side chewing motion that is the best for keeping molar spurs naturally filed down.  Soft foods and pellets promote and up and down chewing motion that doesn't help control spurs, and may actually make them form faster.

If you have access to a safe, fenced yard where there are safe shrubs and grasses for the bunnies to browse and graze (no pesticides or fertilizers, of course!), then this is the BEST type of oral exercise to keep molar spurs down.  We had a big white bun (Isabella) who had the worst premolar malocclusion our vet had ever seen.  They were practically growing towards each other over her tongue.  But because she insisted on living outside with the hares, her constant chewing of fresh grass and twigs kept her teeth in good shape, and she needed only one tooth trimming in her life!

I'm not saying the outdoor forage will work an instant miracle for your bunnies, but it is *definitely* a good addition to their therapy, plus they'll love it!

I hope this helps.

Dana