My pet rat has one white tooth.

[chloefalkface]

I know that this is bad, but it doesn't seem to bother her. She's eating and drinking still. I was looking a bit closer at it and there appears to be a black square up by the top of the tooth, but not on the root. I called the vet and they couldn't answer any of my questions, just told me that I should bring her in, but I don't have the money to. I was wondering if anyone knows something I could do to help her. ): Her name is Chai. She's almost 3 1/2 months old.

 

[smilez_n_hugs]

Can you get a picture of it?

 

[chloefalkface]

She is very hesitant to let me poke and prod around her mouth but perhaps I should describe it better. It's the top right incisor and it's about 5 shades lighter than her other teeth and there's a very small, pitch black square up near the top of the tooth. I tried wiping it off, thinking it may just be a blueberry flake, but it isn't. It appears to just be on the surface of the front of the tooth. Shape and length of the tooth is still normal, however.

 

[Joanne]

If the tooth is normal length and shape, and she is not having any pain or infection with it, then there's not really anything you can do. Monitor for signs of pain/infection/abnormal wear patterns.

 

[lindsayfawn]

Usually when the teeth go white it means they're sick and when they go black then the tooth is dying. We've had a few kids with white teeth and they were fine and lived long lives.

Just keep an eye on her for any sickness and pain like the others mentioned.

She sure is cute!

 

[chloefalkface]

I have news! So usually my two girls are always jumping around in their cage when I wake up in the morning, always ready to see me. But the past week Chai hasn't been (which is what led me to discover her tooth in the first place,) but this morning she was back to her usual self...
and when I checked her mouth, I found that her bad tooth had fallen out! And I discovered a tad bit more black in the root, but am cleaning it out with colloidal silver (natural germ killer.) I am so glad that she is feeling better and hopefully once the little infection goes away her tooth will grow back nice and healthy. Rats teeth do grow back, right? How long will it take? She is eating her solid food again, and still bruxing as usual. Her discomfort seems to be gone though! I'm picking her up some baby food today though, just incase.

P.S. She says thank you to all of you.

 

[MomRat]

The biggest thing now is to keep an eye on the bottom teeth; with that tooth gone they may not wear down properly when she grinds them, and you may have to get them trimmed.

 

[chloefalkface]

Could I file that one down rather than cut it? It won't shatter or something if I cut it?

 

[lindsayfawn]

Could I file that one down rather than cut it? It won't shatter or something if I cut it?

I think filing it would be more stressful as it would take longer. It shouldn't shatter if it's healthy teeth. There's a thread on here some where on how to trim them. We always used just human nail clippers as they seemed to work the best though sometimes the tooth can be at a weird angle or too think then if you use dog nail clippers they work great too.

We had one girl we had to trim often the rat burrito trick was the only way we could do it lol

I'm I think rat teeth grow back if they fall out but I don't know for sure.

Good luck!

 

[Laurie]

Usually when the teeth go white it means they're sick and when they go black then the tooth is dying. We've had a few kids with white teeth and they were fine and lived long lives.

Just keep an eye on her for any sickness and pain like the others mentioned.

She sure is cute!

What about when the tooth is pink and grows a lot slower than the rest? One of my ladies has that, she's also got malocclusion. I've had her to the vet's for it a ton of times, basically I just trim her teeth twice a month. Never was quite sure why that one tooth grew so slowly.. my vet guessed it might have been caused by trauma? To my knowledge, she's not injured her mouth. Though she was kept in pretty deplorable conditions when I got her. She was a feeder rat.

 

[jorats]

She has a pink tooth? That would be new to me. I think I'll never stop learning about rats.
But I would agree with the vet and caused by some form of trauma maybe when she was much much younger. Can we get a pic of the tooth if that's possible, it would be fascinating to see.

 

[Joanne]

In people a pink tooth indicates that the pulp is larger than normal/enamel is thinner than normal. That lets the 'blush' of the pulp tissue shine through the tooth, when otherwise it would be hidden by the enamel.

 

[Dazzle87]

I forget what particular vitamin it is, but white teeth can be caused by a vitamin deficiency. What are you feeding?

 

[handmeafish]

ronnys teeth turned white about a month before he died

 

[handmeafish]

and its Vitamin A deficiency... I just found a study.

 

[mamarat]

Their teeth also change color when they're on long term meds.