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Teeth Tooth fallen out?

OzzyandBruno

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Hello, I joined this forum today hoping to find some more information about one of my pigs (and just for other general information :) )

Yesterday afternoon I noticed that one of my guinea pigs - Bruno - seemed as though he was trying to dislodge something in his mouth, as if he had something stuck in it. I picked him up and looked in his mouth but couldn’t really see much so I waited for a bit and he seemed to be fine again

This morning when I went to pick him up and feed him, I managed to have a proper look in his mouth and realised that I could only see one upper incisor! I’ve taken some pictures of his teeth, but from what I can see, one tooth has either fallen out, or has chipped quite a lot as it is quite hard to see. Of course i’m feeling worried about him and did some research online, and most places say that teeth do normally grow back on their own accord, however sometimes the other tooth grows too long and needs to be seen by a vet. Should I just keep an eye on him or does he really need to go to the vet? He seems perfectly happy and is eating and drinking fine by himself.

Thank you!

P.S sorry if the photos are a little unclear, in the first one I think you can just about see where the rest of the broken tooth is - it’s just poking out at the top of his mouth, and a little to the right and down is where is other tooth is
 

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bpatters

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It's not unusual.

You need to keep a close eye on it. If things go normally, the tooth will grow back out again, and the only "treatment" that may be needed is that his bottom incisor on that side might need to be trimmed to keep it even with the other bottom incisor. But that may not happen.

If you notice any signs of infection -- drainage, swelling, redness, or signs of pain -- then he needs to see a vet.

It's also not uncommon for the tooth to break off again. It sometimes takes two or three tries before the tooth settles down.

The only question I have is whether he's a bar chewer. If he cracked the tooth chewing on the cage, you may need to line the inside of the cage with plexiglass to keep him from continually breaking his teeth.
 

OzzyandBruno

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Ok thank you, I will make sure to keep an eye on it. Yes he does actually sometimes chew the bars, usually if he’s suspecting food is on the way, so that could possibly be what happened. I have some fleece covering part of the cage walls, so maybe covering more of the bars with that would also help stop him chew them? Also another question is if he’s swallowed the tooth. So far I haven’t seen it lying around anywhere so he may have swallowed it - is that a concern?
 

bpatters

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I doubt that he swallowed it, but keep an eye on his poop production to make sure nothing is going wrong.

You'll do far better to line the inside of the cage with plexiglass than with fleece. If he discovers he can chew holes in the fleece in order to see, you'll have more problems than you've got now.
 

OzzyandBruno

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Ok, thanks for the help.
 

OzzyandBruno

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Hello I thought I would post a quick update on Bruno’s tooth :)

It’s grown back so quick! The first picture was from 2 days ago, when his teeth were looking a bit jagged and rough but they seem to have evened themselves out a bit now (last picture was taken just now) so it should hopefully be ok.

(His broken tooth was the upper left)

2A5C87E0-1C85-4C0C-A756-B01C80E9BB0E.jpg CE11B23F-EA67-4D2E-8578-14D237483AF1.jpg
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Good to hear! They look much better now!
 
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