Dental Best Practice for Dental Issues and Vet Suggestions for Sydney, Australia.

[Kateisabel]

My four year old male, Henri, has lost a significant amount of weight while I was overseas. He is still eating grass, vegies and pellets, but finds hay difficult.

He has one elongated incisor and the vet said that he has some dental issues but he needs to be anaesthetised to fully examine the problems, and potentially grind or clip teeth and that the procedure would cost around AUD$600.

I called another vet to get a price comparison and this vet said that clipping teeth is not best practice and that depending on what the issue was, teeth may have to be removed and the cost could be up to AUD$1200.

My questions:
1. Is clipping/grinding best practice? Is there a difference between the two?
2. Can dental issues/malocclusion be solved with back/cheek teeth removal?
3. Is it likely that Henri will need to be anthetised, potentially every three months, to have his teeth maintained?
4. Can anyone recommend a vet in or around Sydney, Australia who has experience in G.pig dental treatment?

I understand that until we get a proper look in Henri's mouth, no one can provide a diagnosis, but any advice or clarification would be appreciated.

 

[Siikibam]

@Wiebke @furryfriends (TEAS)

 

[Wiebke]

My four year old male, Henri, has lost a significant amount of weight while I was overseas. He is still eating grass, vegies and pellets, but finds hay difficult.

He has one elongated incisor and the vet said that he has some dental issues but he needs to be anaesthetised to fully examine the problems, and potentially grind or clip teeth and that the procedure would cost around AUD$600.

I called another vet to get a price comparison and this vet said that clipping teeth is not best practice and that depending on what the issue was, teeth may have to be removed and the cost could be up to AUD$1200.

My questions:
1. Is clipping/grinding best practice? Is there a difference between the two?
2. Can dental issues/malocclusion be solved with back/cheek teeth removal?
3. Is it likely that Henri will need to be anthetised, potentially every three months, to have his teeth maintained?
4. Can anyone recommend a vet in or around Sydney, Australia who has experience in G.pig dental treatment?

I understand that until we get a proper look in Henri's mouth, no one can provide a diagnosis, but any advice or clarification would be appreciated.

The best and most practised dental vet in the UK is able to file teeth without GA except for the most extreme cases. It means that the guinea pigs he treats bounce back pretty straight away and are able to eat on their own very. This also means that a guinea pig can be seen every 2-4 weeks for control and if necessary further filing at lengthening intervals until the dental system is fully rebalanced and the patient only needs a yearly check. You don't have to wait until the teeth are overgrown yet again and start back in square one with a costly full operation every few months.
Teeth are only being removed if this is the best or only option.

@furryfriends (TEAS) is running a sanctuary for guinea pigs with serious chronic dental disease that gives the piggies a good life and quality of life with ongoing dental support. They are using the vet in question and could not do their pioneering work without him.

Sadly this method, which has saved so many piggy lives, is still rather frowned upon by traditional vets. We are still hoping that the results are speaking for themselves and that more vets are going to catch on. There is now a second vet in the UK who specialises in seeing only guinea pigs, who has started offering this kind of dentals as well.

As to vets in Sydney, I would recommend that you contact Lyn from Cavy Central Guinea Pig Rescue (ACS Syndey) for recommendations/the vet they are using. This high welfare standard guinea pig rescue is the best place to find a piggy savvy vet where you are.
Whether that extends to dentals, though, I don't know since guinea pigs sadly don't feature large in any vet's curriculum (exotic or general) and guinea pig dentals basically not at all.
Cavy Central Guinea Pig Rescue ( ACS Sydney)

 

[Freela]

Standards and best practices vary greatly by country (for instance, although conscious dentistry is often done in the UK, I have not been able to find even a specialty vet who will do conscious dentistry on guinea pigs or other small pets in Canada.) My experience in Canada with a dental pig was that burring/filing teeth regularly under light anesthesia was the regular treatment. Removing teeth is a major operation and is only done here if there is advanced root disease that cannot be managed any other way. My dental pig had regular tooth burring every few months under gas anesthesia before eventually a large abscess popped up on one side of her jaw.... she had the abscess surgically lanced and drained and treated with daily irrigation and heavy-duty antibiotics. Once the abscess resolved, she didn't need tooth filing anymore (my theory, which the vet agreed with, was that her teeth were maloccluded because she had a brewing abscess for months that caused pain on one side, thus she chewed on the other, causing uneven wear to her teeth. Once the abscess resolved, she ate more normally and began to wear her teeth more evenly again.) I hope this helps a bit. Sometimes I wish I lived somewhere where guinea pig treatments were more advanced... unfortunately, in Canada, not enough people take their guinea pigs to the vet for it to be a financially workable specialty. I have found a vet that is good with dentistry on rodents (I had both a dental guinea pig and a dental hamster who needed regular tooth filings!), but even they do not do conscious dentistry and required gas anesthesia each time.

 

[Sophia Watson]

My four year old male, Henri, has lost a significant amount of weight while I was overseas. He is still eating grass, vegies and pellets, but finds hay difficult.

He has one elongated incisor and the vet said that he has some dental issues but he needs to be anaesthetised to fully examine the problems, and potentially grind or clip teeth and that the procedure would cost around AUD$600.

I called another vet to get a price comparison and this vet said that clipping teeth is not best practice and that depending on what the issue was, teeth may have to be removed and the cost could be up to AUD$1200.

My questions:
1. Is clipping/grinding best practice? Is there a difference between the two?
2. Can dental issues/malocclusion be solved with back/cheek teeth removal?
3. Is it likely that Henri will need to be anthetised, potentially every three months, to have his teeth maintained?
4. Can anyone recommend a vet in or around Sydney, Australia who has experience in G.pig dental treatment?

I understand that until we get a proper look in Henri's mouth, no one can provide a diagnosis, but any advice or clarification would be appreciated.

OH MY GOODNESS please take him to Waterloo Bird and Exotics vet! This is where Lyn from Cavy Rescue at Sydney sent to me and Dr Nataylia has literally saved their lives!

They are exotic vets that offer teeth trimming without them being under anesthetic at a quarter of the price going, I'm from Newcastle, NSW and was making the 2 hour trip back and forth weekly just so they could fix my 2 boys teeth issues. Please go see them!

 

[anyar.dris]

OH MY GOODNESS please take him to Waterloo Bird and Exotics vet! This is where Lyn from Cavy Rescue at Sydney sent to me and Dr Nataylia has literally saved their lives!

They are exotic vets that offer teeth trimming without them being under anesthetic at a quarter of the price going, I'm from Newcastle, NSW and was making the 2 hour trip back and forth weekly just so they could fix my 2 boys teeth issues. Please go see them!

I'm so glad to know they have vets in Australia that offer GA free dentals for piggies!