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Dental Elongated roots

C

Cookie2020

New Born Pup
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Hi all,
Hoping you can help me.
Took our 9 month old female to the vet yesterday because she was making a noise when peeing and thought she might have a UTI. She gave her a full examination and X-ray - confirmed there are no bladder stones and gave us a diuretic which will hopefully clear it.
During the examination she noticed bumps on her lower jaw and said most likely cause is Elongated roots and she will need to go every 4 to 6 weeks for teeth filing.
Aside from the cost, I’m concerned about her having a general anaesthetic so often. There’s no experts in the area to do conscious dental work.
Will this shorten her life? Will she really need it so often for the rest of her life, or might it settle down? Is there anything I can add to her diet that might be good for this?
 
Hi, is there any chance to visit another vet? Bumps from elongated roots sound strange to me. I've had quite a few piggies with teeth issues, but a bump on the jaw could be a sign of an abcess and should be seen by a cavy savy vet. Did she check the molars?
 
Viennese Furbabies said:
Hi, is there any chance to visit another vet? Bumps from elongated roots sound strange to me. I've had quite a few piggies with teeth issues, but a bump on the jaw could be a sign of an abcess and should be seen by a cavy savy vet. Did she check the molars?
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Yes - she looked at the molars and had a good look in her mouth. She also said before they do the filing the first time that they would do a CT scan. I guess that would show if it were an abcess instead
 
I lost a guinea pig to elongated roots. She was an older girl and developed an abcess. When they did an xray they saw roots from all her molars - the teeth at the back of the jaw - growing down like claws. It was one of these, pushing into the flesh, that caused the abcess. The only thing that could have been done for her was removal of all her molars. She wasn't expected to survive it, lots of pain and dreadful healing problems too. She was an older piggy, but all the roots had grown too long across her lifetime. She was actually lucky they hadn't cased a problem before. She was put to sleep under anaesthetic and I still miss her now. It was a truly dreadful horror show of an xray.

Ok, I would guess that elongated roots show up in early stages as lumpiness nearer to the jaw bone. If your vet has seen this before then she may be correct. Please investigate and get it sorted out before you end up with a big problem. I do hope it is easily solved.

Hugs to you and your piggy, best of luck.
 
I can't help with the roots - I hope it's nothing serious as she is only young (which is on her side). I'm wondering how having her teeth filed down will affect the growth of roots so I'm not sure why this is being recommended(?) Has she lost weight recently? Is she struggling to eat?

My piggies who have had teeth filed have been because they were unwell, had lost weight with the poor appetite, and were not eating hay so the molars had overgrown... but TEAS specialises in dental piggies that are filed regularly. But I don't know whether these 'dental' piggies generally run a risk of longer roots... @furryfriends (TEAS) do you know whether 'elongated roots' is related to overgrown molars as this poster is describing?

If we've reached the stage of crying when peeing we've always needed antibiotics. Sometimes there has been a stone, sometimes not, but even with a stone it has been the infection that has caused the pain and inflammation. That is just my experience. We have found antibiotics need a day or two to take effect and our vet always prescribes the metacam/loxicom painkiller (the stronger 1.5mg/ml type) to give piggy while we are trying the antibiotics. Did your vet give a painkiller for her? I don't know whether this will be standard practice in your country...

I hope she feels better soon 💕
 
If I could have a pound for every time I hear that a guinea pig has elongated roots, and this is the reason for the dental issue, I would be so very rich by now! However, in almost all cases, as soon as the crowns of the teeth are filed correctly, the guinea pig eats well! It can be a brewing abscess that is causing pain, which stops the guinea pig eating, but once that is treated and the teeth are filed, then the guinea pig will be able to eat for themselves.
 
Sarah from Chucklebunnies said:
I lost a guinea pig to elongated roots. She was an older girl and developed an abcess. When they did an xray they saw roots from all her molars - the teeth at the back of the jaw - growing down like claws. It was one of these, pushing into the flesh, that caused the abcess. The only thing that could have been done for her was removal of all her molars. She wasn't expected to survive it, lots of pain and dreadful healing problems too. She was an older piggy, but all the roots had grown too long across her lifetime. She was actually lucky they hadn't cased a problem before. She was put to sleep under anaesthetic and I still miss her now. It was a truly dreadful horror show of an xray.

Ok, I would guess that elongated roots show up in early stages as lumpiness nearer to the jaw bone. If your vet has seen this before then she may be correct. Please investigate and get it sorted out before you end up with a big problem. I do hope it is easily solved.

Hugs to you and your piggy, best of luck.
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I’m so sorry to hear your story. That must have been so horrible. Hazel is very young and I’m hoping that because we caught it early, that she will be OK. I am concerned though, but the fact she will need so many general anaesthetics.
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
If I could have a pound for every time I hear that a guinea pig has elongated roots, and this is the reason for the dental issue, I would be so very rich by now! However, in almost all cases, as soon as the crowns of the teeth are filed correctly, the guinea pig eats well! It can be a brewing abscess that is causing pain, which stops the guinea pig eating, but once that is treated and the teeth are filed, then the guinea pig will be able to eat for themselves.
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Good to hear. Thank you. She is booked in for next week.
Currently she is eating well and looks the picture of health! She’s putting on weight at almost exactly the same weight as her brother.
 
If she is eating well and putting on weight at a good rate are we still thinking anything is 'wrong' with those teeth? She's not showing any dental symptoms. If she were my girl I'd be reluctant to let a vet near the teeth... :hmm:

How is her peeing - still crying when she goes? This is her primary issue isn't it...?
 
Free Ranger said:
If she is eating well and putting on weight at a good rate are we still thinking anything is 'wrong' with those teeth? She's not showing any dental symptoms. If she were my girl I'd be reluctant to let a vet near the teeth... :hmm:

How is her peeing - still crying when she goes? This is her primary issue isn't it...?
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If it ain't broke don't try to fix it. Asking for problems.
 
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