Teeth Crooked front teeth

[Disorganizedkit]

My five year old, S'mores, hasn't had problems for most of the time we've had him, but we recently moved cross country and all of our pigs are having problems. S'more is definitely the worst though. His bottom front teeth (not his cheek teeth) have started growing crookedly, each one inward and clashing. They've also broken in layers, and when I checked on him today after school the worse turned tooth had broken almost all the way off and it was clear how much the other is tilting.
He got rubber tubing stuck on his teeth a few weeks ago, but we got that off and hadn't seen any problems right away.
I'm stumped, and we're in a new area so I don't know what vets would be worth their salt.

 

[bpatters]

Where are you? We might be able to help you find a vet.

Crooked incisors are almost always symptom of problems with the molars, although it can be from an injury (such as falling from a ramp, or chewing the cage bars). Molar problems will never fix themselves, so you need to find an exotic vet with rodent dentistry experience. Other problems may or may not need treatment. But the worse the teeth get, the more expensive the procedure is, and the longer the recovery.

 

[Disorganizedkit]

We just moved to the Vernal area

 

[bpatters]

Where is Vernal? I never heard of it. We need the closest large city to you.

 

[Disorganizedkit]

The closest large city is Salt Lake City, Utah.

 

[bpatters]

I looked for exotic vets around you, and unfortunately, the closest ones would be in Provo or SLC.

The big problem you've got is that "small animal" vets are trained in the care of cats and dogs, not exotic pets. Vet school might give them on short course in exotics that covers everything from gerbils to giraffes, so you can imagine how much they don't know. And exotics can be difficult to treat because of the way they metabolize anesthesia, and there aren't very many dog and cat vets anywhere who would know how to do it.

If it were me, I'd look at the vet websites in both cities, and call and ask to speak to the vet with the most rodent dentistry experience at the one that sounds the best. It would be a very long day's trip for you, but tooth problems will NOT clear up on their own, and unless they're adequately treated, the pig will ultimately die.

Good luck to you and your pig, and keep us posted on what happens.

 

[Disorganizedkit]

I will. Thank you!