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12 May 2014

Rabbit Dental Treatment Tips

Posted By : Guest

Filed Under : Veterinary News

Rabbit dental problems can develop within three months of birth and are often related to poor nutrition; particularly lack of fibre. Fibre is found in abundance in hay and grass, which requires chewing – and thereby acts to wear down the teeth. Without this, teeth become elongated and troublesome. If your are a vet, then here are 5 top dental treatment tips for rabbits.

Signs to look out for:

Anorexia

Weight loss

Saliva

drooling from the mouth

Hair around the base of the incisors

Ridges in the enamel of the incisors

Pain (often noted with grinding teeth)

Diagnosing dental disease in rabbits

Check for the visible signs above

Take a closer look with for example, an otoscope, auroscope, rigid endoscope or oral speculum)

When indicated, use a general anaesthetic to allow a thorough investigation. Most importantly, at this stage, take x-rays and look for radiographic evidence

Treating rabbit dental problems

Remember, clipping teeth is NOT an option. It’s can be painful and risks causing further long term damage from fractures along the length of the tooth.

So the preferred advise is:

Use a high-speed electric burr attached to a standard dental polishing unit (this is quick and safe, but always use protection for the tongue, cheeks and lips). Alternatively, you can use a lower-speed drill, such as a Dremel
Always take precautions to avoid soft tissue trauma within the mouth
If the teeth are very long, begin by drilling to half the crown length, then half again
Be very careful not to cut through the pulp cavity
If the cheek teeth have sharp spurs on the edges, use a general anaesthetic to burr them

Burgess Top Tips

Do you have any tips you can offer to others? This month Burgess Pet Care in UK are introducing a ‘Top Tips’ section for vets in their email blogs, so if you have any great tips on rabbit dental care – or indeed any aspect of veterinary care and treatment – please email them to Suzanne Moyes at suzanne.moyes@burgesspetcare.co.uk, and Burgess will try to share them in the future.

Prevention advice for pet owners

Put simply; a high-fibre diet is absolutely essential to avoiding dental disease in rabbits. Owners should feed their pets plenty of hay and grass.

We also have some in-depth advice about rabbits from Sharon Redrobe MRCVS in UK.

What is Burgess Vet Club?

In a nutshell it’s an online resource for all vets packed with…

Practical everyday tips and advice

Easy to read refresher articles

An overview of the latest research and news

A roundup of key topics and debates

and anything relating to small mammals

Each month Burgess in UK will send you a short email with links to latest news and tips.

Why is Burgess different to other veterinary resources?

Burgess will try to keep it filled with useful information easy to read and digest in just a few minutes. Burgess appreciate you all live very busy lives, so rather than sending you protracted articles, they’ll break it down into highlights and key points.

Sign up to the Burgess Vet Club today

Tags : dental treatment tips for rabbits