Malocclusion?

[Chevalrose]

When is a Malocclusion a Malocclusion? I've noticed Tobi's lower incisors are slightly separated at the top. I know some separation is normal...but is this too much?

 

[Rachael]

That doesnt look normal to me. You'll have to get them clipped down or burred down (under GA) and then see where to go from there. You might decide the best option is to remove the teeth but you might need a expert to do that, and it's a risky operation. How is he otherwise with his health and what age is he?

 

[jorats]

It doesn't look too bad to me right now but it could get worse. You could bring him in and see what your vet thinks and have it trimmed down a wee bit and hope it grows back straighter. But bottom teeth can separate quite a bit.

 

[lilspaz68]

The splay might be temporary. See if you can get him to relax and just look at the bottom teeth and the tips of the top teeth. If the surfaces are relatively even then it should be fine. The bottom of the rat's jaw is not solid like our skull, but joined with flexible ligament which allows for the splay in the bottom teeth, this makes things easier for them to grip and carry away in the wild.

when you poke around a rat's mouth they often protest and will splay those bottom teeth.

As soon as you see definite uneven-ness in the surfaces or alignment then I would have him trimmed.

Here it looks like Mattie has malocclusion but she has nice normal teeth when they are not splayed

 

[Chevalrose]

They don't look uneven at all...just splayed. I did notice that he nibbled on a hammock fine and also when I was feeding him some ensure with some ground lab block, he nibbled on some bigger chunks that were in it fine. I was wondering if it could have lead to his weight loss, but as in a previous thread, he could just be getting old. He was eager enough to have the ensure + ground lab blocks. I'll just keep an eye on him this week and see how he does. He could have had a loss of appetite from the mix of Baytril + Benadryl that he was on.

 

[Rachael]

One of mine with malocclusion started a bit like that, and it just got worse. Better to catch it early.

 

[jorats]

I just pulled out one of my boys to check and yep, looks just like yours and lilspaz... normal. But good to keep an eye on it just in case.

 

[Chevalrose]

I suppose I'll just keep an eye on him. Last night I saw him eating a lab block fine...so at this point it doesn't seem to be a problem if it is a malocclusion. I'll probably be taking him to the vets next week for a URI follow up and I'll ask her when we're there.

 

[jorats]

That sounds good. When in doubt ask the vet. :thumbup: