My guinea pig has tooth root abscess, have anyone ever take their guinea pig to get lower teeth extracted?

[LWB]

Hello, I'm from Thailand and not a native speaker so I'm sorry for my English in advance.

One of my guinea pigs is about 2 years old, he has been having tooth abscesses for 4 months now.
The vet recommended us to have the tooth extracted because it is likely that said tooth's root is the cause for abscess, and so we did.

For the first week his condition seem to improve, the pus are gone and abscess surgery cut is closing and then healed.
After the cut seemingly healed for about 3 days, abscess came back again. This time the vet said they might have to extracted all of the lower teeth in the area not just one tooth.

Have anyone ever take their guinea pig to get lower teeth extracted? I can't imagine how he will spen his life without lower teeth but if we don't remove them, the abscess will continue to appear forever.

 

[Bill & Ted]

@furryfriends (TEAS) I Hope Debbie can give you some advice. @weepweeps might be able to tell you of her experience too
Extracting teeth is not the usual procedure for guinea pigs with tooth root abscesses. A strong antibiotic like Zithromax is usually used

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m so sorry to hear this.

Has your piggy been given antibiotics?
Is he on painkillers?

Removing teeth is a huge deal as it means the opposing teeth won’t have anything to wear against.

Please make sure you are weighing him each morning to ensure that he is eating sufficient amounts of hay and isn’t losing weight, and being prepared to step in syringe feeding.

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

 

[weepweeps]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I’m sorry your piggy is poorly.

I have had a piggy with a very large tooth root abscess. The best way of dealing with them is to cut them open and stitch them open so they can’t heal quickly. You need to keep the hole open for as long as possible so the pus and infection and come out and not get trapped and cause another abscess. You need to flush the wound out with cooled boiled water at least twice a day. Your piggy will need a high dose of pain medication and also a long course of antibiotics. Pepper had six weeks of Zithromax but it did stop him eating. But it cured the abscess and it never came back.

His tooth was not removed by the vet but did fall out a few months later as the infection had killed the tooth. But he managed fine with three incisors. I wouldn’t let the vet pull lots of his teeth out as like you rightly say it will make it very hard for him to eat.

Here is Peppers story about his tooth root abscess:
Dental? Pepper is off to the vets tomorrow

Good luck. Feel free to ask any questions you may have. I hope he’s soon feeling better.

 

[LWB]

@furryfriends (TEAS) I Hope Debbie can give you some advice. @weepweeps might be able to tell you of her experience too
Extracting teeth is not the usual procedure for guinea pigs with tooth root abscesses. A strong antibiotic like Zithromax is usually used

Thank you so much, I also learned recently from reading on this forum that it is not normal to extract teeth.
The vet we went to only told me that tooth root is the root of the problem and extracting it is the only way to stop the abscess.
My guinea pig also take antibiotic called Metronidazole after his tooth extraction.

I’m so sorry to hear this.

Has your piggy been given antibiotics?
Is he on painkillers?

Removing teeth is a huge deal as it means the opposing teeth won’t have anything to wear against.

Please make sure you are weighing him each morning to ensure that he is eating sufficient amounts of hay and isn’t losing weight, and being prepared to step in syringe feeding.

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

Thank you so much, my guinea pig takes antibiotic and painkiller.
I also agree with you, which is why I'm so confused why would the vet recommend the removal of teeth.
Small blessing is that my guinea pig, despite having abscess, is still very cheerful, has a large appetite, and playful as always.

Hello and welcome to the forum. I’m sorry your piggy is poorly.

I have had a piggy with a very large tooth root abscess. The best way of dealing with them is to cut them open and stitch them open so they can’t heal quickly. You need to keep the hole open for as long as possible so the pus and infection and come out and not get trapped and cause another abscess. You need to flush the wound out with cooled boiled water at least twice a day. Your piggy will need a high dose of pain medication and also a long course of antibiotics. Pepper had six weeks of Zithromax but it did stop him eating. But it cured the abscess and it never came back.

His tooth was not removed by the vet but did fall out a few months later as the infection had killed the tooth. But he managed fine with three incisors. I wouldn’t let the vet pull lots of his teeth out as like you rightly say it will make it very hard for him to eat.

Here is Peppers story about his tooth root abscess:
Dental? Pepper is off to the vets tomorrow

Good luck. Feel free to ask any questions you may have. I hope he’s soon feeling better.

Thank you so much, we have tried cutting the abscess open and clean them but after a few months it still not getting better.
We tried going to different vet after which we discovered that one of the teeth has already changed color and cracked inside.
Even after extract that tooth, the abscess still appear.
I'm not sure if we ever got the Zithromax but we will try to talk about this with my vet.

I also have read about Pepper's story even before posting here and it's really really helpful.

 

[LWB]

If we don't extract the teeth and only cut the abscess, will it really cured?
I'm scared because it has been 5 months now.
How long does it usually take to cure guinea pig from abscess?

 

[Little Ones]

I had a senior piggy who had both his bottom incisors removed due to tooth root abscesses. It was a lot easier for us when the second tooth needed to be removed as when he had one bottom tooth, he had to have specialist filing of the front teeth so that he could still eat however when both bottom teeth were removed, he had his teeth filed/burred every 2 weeks but this was done by a general vet instead of a specialist.

After he had no bottom teeth, he was totally fine. We just would cut his veg into small strips and hand feed them to him and he could no longer eat pellets. But he was fine with hay, no problems at all.

After each removal, he was on a course of Zithromax and he healed pretty fast, we just would clean the external wound each day with water. Removing the bottom teeth to cure the tooth root abscess was totally necessary and not even a question put to us by my vet. If you aren’t seeing any improvement without extraction, I would go ahead with it - as long as you are prepared to have the top teeth burred by the vet every two weeks. I remember that prior to removing the tooth root abscess via surgery, my piggy was extremely unwell. To the point where I was concerned for his life. He wouldn’t eat or move or anything. The pain must be excruciating for them. Whilst teeth removal is not ideal, it is necessary in this circumstance and I don’t believe you can cure the tooth root abscess otherwise. My vet was a specialist (Simon Maddock) and he removed the teeth without question, the Zithromax would not have been enough alone. If I were in the same position as I was many years ago, the same one you are in now, I would remove the teeth without hesitation.

Here’s pictures of my piggy after his second bottom incisors removal.

 

[weepweeps]

Just to clarify Pepper was treated by Simon Maddox too and Simon didn’t mention tooth removal for Pepper. Marsupialisation of the abscess and a long course of Zithromax did the trick.

It’s reassuring that you had a great outcome with the tooth removal option @Little Ones.

@LWB I think you should have a discussion with your vet about both these options and see what is their preferred treatment plan. Maybe try Zithromax first and save an operation for later? Good luck I hope your piggy is soon on the mend.

 

[LWB]

I had a senior piggy who had both his bottom incisors removed due to tooth root abscesses. It was a lot easier for us when the second tooth needed to be removed as when he had one bottom tooth, he had to have specialist filing of the front teeth so that he could still eat however when both bottom teeth were removed, he had his teeth filed/burred every 2 weeks but this was done by a general vet instead of a specialist.

After he had no bottom teeth, he was totally fine. We just would cut his veg into small strips and hand feed them to him and he could no longer eat pellets. But he was fine with hay, no problems at all.

After each removal, he was on a course of Zithromax and he healed pretty fast, we just would clean the external wound each day with water. Removing the bottom teeth to cure the tooth root abscess was totally necessary and not even a question put to us by my vet. If you aren’t seeing any improvement without extraction, I would go ahead with it - as long as you are prepared to have the top teeth burred by the vet every two weeks. I remember that prior to removing the tooth root abscess via surgery, my piggy was extremely unwell. To the point where I was concerned for his life. He wouldn’t eat or move or anything. The pain must be excruciating for them. Whilst teeth removal is not ideal, it is necessary in this circumstance and I don’t believe you can cure the tooth root abscess otherwise. My vet was a specialist (Simon Maddock) and he removed the teeth without question, the Zithromax would not have been enough alone. If I were in the same position as I was many years ago, the same one you are in now, I would remove the teeth without hesitation.

Here’s pictures of my piggy after his second bottom incisors removal.
View attachment 252333
View attachment 252334

Thank you very much for your valuable experience, it's really helpful to me.
I will try talking with my vet about Zithromax because I've never got this medication from them.

Just to clarify Pepper was treated by Simon Maddox too and Simon didn’t mention tooth removal for Pepper. Marsupialisation of the abscess and a long course of Zithromax did the trick.

It’s reassuring that you had a great outcome with the tooth removal option @Little Ones.

@LWB I think you should have a discussion with your vet about both these options and see what is their preferred treatment plan. Maybe try Zithromax first and save an operation for later? Good luck I hope your piggy is soon on the mend.

Thank you again, I will try talking about the medication with my vet first.
We might not extract the tooth yet and go for Marsupialization.