Teeth troubles

Question
Hi Dana,

You may rememeber I have wrote to you in the past regarding my 2 rabbits that recieve regular dental treatment for molar spurs.

After 2 years of burring treatment, (and very slow recoveries -from this treatment) I decided to try a different vet and a different treatment.  After hearing this new vets views on burring, he believes its hard to keep the rabbits mouth cool and the heat damages the teeth by the way( I thought I would have nothing to lose by trying him and the clipping and filing with a diamond file that he uses.)  Hence, both my rabbits received a clipping and filing of the spurs on 1st August (just over 2 weeks ago now)  After picking them up, I asked how long he thought they would go until they would need doing again and he suggested a check at the start of October.  ( In my head, I was thinking this was being very optimistic, given that they'd be going on a monthly basis at least)  Anyway, feeling it would be nice if they did, it would be well worth the change.  Although, both recovered better than if they had received burring treatment ie they've been eating their veg better (& some hay) still somewhat slow, but better improvement.  However, I know something is wrong with my eldest rabbit and I'm sure its spurs again!  She's doing her little sneezes, dropping food when I hand feed her and acting really picky, plus I can see a discomfort when she's chewing.  I can't believe this, already, I wasn't expecting more spurs so soon.  My problem now, is, I thought this vet knew his stuff with rabbits, he lead me to believe they'd go a couple of months, not two weeks.  He's also quite expensive and if my rabbits are only able to go 2-3 weeks between dentals this would be terrible, I am going to have to find somebody else.  

It would really help me to know why my rabbits get these spurs as when they've been on a soft diet in the past, they've gone longer between filings, but all the advice I get is to get them on grass/hay, fruit twigs etc.  So, I do all this and bam, spurs seem to come up faster, I just don't get it. I don't know if I am having a run with bad vets or if my rabbits teeth are just really terrible.  I have seen x-rays of my rabbits teeth though and they're not that bad, I've seen far worse.

Please please, can you give me your opinion, should I give this new vet another try or find somebody else. It is possible that my rabbits still have some sensitive teeth from all the burring treatment they had, but I'm just wondering if I'll ever be able to get them so they'll go a good spell of 4-6 weeks like other people do.  I didn't change my previous vets or switch them to the clipping light heartedly, I did loads of research to find out what was best for them.

Any thoughts most appreciated,

Thank you


Sue

Answer
Dear Susan,

It's true that some rabbits have worse dental occlusion than others, and because the teeth can grow very quickly, a few rabbits get spurs in a relatively short time.  

The only remedy I've ever found for this type of bunny (and I've had them!) is to allow them a couple of hours every day *outdoors* in a safe, supervised place where they can eat fresh grass.  The moisture and silica in the grass seems to foster the beneficial side-to-side chewing motion that helps keep the molars grinding each other down flat.  We had a bunny whose premolars were practically growing inwards towards her tongue, but because she ate outside, she had to have her molars filed only once in her life.  The vet was completely amazed!

I don't think the time between filings is a function of the vet, as long as the vet really gets those spurs filed down, *especially* the pesky buccal spurs that form on the top molars.  Some vets don't realize that these are poking down into the cheek, because they may appear smooth on examination.  Next time be sure to ask if there are buccal spurs, and if so, to be sure they are well clipped and filed.

I wish I could tell you this was simple, but it's not.  Different vets' ability to deal with dental problems varies tremendously, and until you find someone who really will get *all* the spurs filed very smooth, you might have regular problems.

I hope you can find a good vet to do a really good, deep oral exam and do this for you.

Take care,

Dana