Long Tooth

Question
Hi, we took our rabbit to the vet 4 weeks ago, after we noticed his bottom teath had grown long, we had them clipped, and changed his diet to pellets as per the vets instructions,    his teath are now just as big after just 4 weeks.

we are taking him back this week to the vets,

but is it possible for us to clip his teath ?
and is there anything else we can do to try and stop his teath growing so quick ?

Answer
Dear Steve,

The best solution to an incisor malocclusion (misalignment of the front teeth) is actually to have the teeth *extracted*.  This should NOT be done by a regular dog/cat vet, of course.  Most of them have too little experience with rabbits to be able to properly perform this delicate procedure.  For a good rabbit vet near you, please check the list here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

The fact that the vet you saw clipped the teeth,rather than *filing* them, suggests that this vet may not be as expoerienced as necessary to do an incisor removal.  The peg teeth (the small incisors directly behind the large, top teeth) are especially difficult to remove, even for experienced vets.  So I can't stress enough the necessity for you to get a rabbit *expert* vet to do this, and permanently solve the problem.

Clipping is dangerous, as it can frracture the tooth and cause bacteria to enter the jawbone.  Thi s can result in terrible abscesses requiring weeks of antibiotic treatment, and probably the ultimate removal of the teeth.  So it's best to avoid this altogether, and have the procedure done correctly the first time.

You can read more about dental problems, and more about incisor removal and its consequences, in rabbits here:

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

I hope this helps.  Please wite back if you have any other questions.

Dana