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Dental Teeth removal

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mikironicheese

New Born Pup
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Hi all,

I am writing to see if I can get some advice please :)
My guinea pig, Cheeto, has one bottom front tooth missing, which has caused her upper front teeth to continuously grow. We have taken her to Pets at Home vets (Torquay) to sort out, first time they just chopped it off, second time they put her under anaesthetic to burr them, and then suggested us the next option we could consider is to remove them completely. She charged me £200 for burring. 6 months later (now), they're long again, so I went back and she referred me to another vet who specializes in exotic animals for extraction. They will charge another £99 just for a consultation and then quoted £400-500 for extraction. My guinea pig is only about 3 years old so I think it would make sense to just go for the extraction.

But now I am wondering if this is a normal price for this kind of procedure? She also mentioned that there is always a chance of it growing back - based on your experience, is it common to grow back, even after a full extraction? Should I just go for the burring again?


Thank you :)
 
Are they wanting to remove the final bottom incisor or the top ones?
I had a piggy with no bottom incisors, both were removed and didn’t grow back due to the tooth root being infected by an abscess:
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Incisor burring can be done consciously and only costs around £20, they will only burr to the gum line behind the teeth, or so that they line up nicely. Since your piggy still has a bottom tooth, they need to be cut precisely with grooves to make chewing easier. Little (my piggy) first off had one remaining bottom tooth so would have to have them burred consciously by a dental specialist in Northampton called Simon.
Little eventually lost his other tooth after a few months which made life a lot easier as it meant any vet at all could burr his teeth. Vets routinely burr rabbit teeth so it’s the same process. Before, we would travel just over 2 hours to have them burred but now we could go to our local vet five minutes away.
The top teeth can really never ever be removed. The tooth roots don’t grow straight like they do for bottom incisors and instead grow all over the place making extraction very difficult. It also requires a different form of anaesthetic which is injecting into the gums which is quite painful.
Once Little had no bottom incisors, he had his top incisors burred every 3 weeks (consciously). He managed beautifully without his bottom incisors.

My advice to you would be to contact Simon from the Cat and Rabbit Clinic, he is the only dental expert in the country along with his wife, Kim. Explain where you live (so you’d have to travel to see them rather than be able to just turn up for a physical consultation), and your situation and ask if you’re able to have a phone consult, or if you’re able to email him. Explain that you’re unable to find someone to burr the incisors consciously and precisely, having the remaining incisor removed would be helpful as then you can have cheaper, conscious incisor burrs at a local vet regularly. Simon will be able to tell you if he thinks it would be ethical and possible. Along with if the tooth would ever grow back.
With Little, his tooth roots were infected and his teeth were removed so that’s why the teeth never grew back. Simon will be able to tell you if this is possible. I know it’s far to travel but he is worth it! I’ve travelled there via train before which took so so long but Simon saved Little’s life. I’m quite confused actually as to why your vets are burring incisors under anaesthetic when it’s fairly easy and common practice in rabbits to burr them consciously, and this is transferable to guinea pigs. I know they must be cutting the tooth off very far down if it took 6 months to grow, but it seems more reasonable to do this conscious and more frequently.

If you’re able to have a safe extraction of the bottom incisor, then from my experience I would do it and then have the top incisors burred as needed (every 3 weeks for us). We paid around £500 for each of Little’s teeth removal, but he also had his abscess marsupialised at the same time. But do not get the top teeth removed, if they agree to do this then I would question how well versed they are in guinea pigs and their dental needs.
 
Oh, perhaps they meant to remove the remaining bottom one, now I'm not sure! The point of the removal is to be a more permanent fix, rather than having to go back every few months spending £200, so I figured it was the top teeth as they're the ones that are constantly growing. She said she didn't want to do it consciously due to fear of fracturing the teeth, that's why I spent £200 to get it done under anaesthetic. But now I am thinking if that was even worth it after seeing many posts about getting it done for £20 without anaesthetic. Perhaps she was unexperienced? The reason for the referral for extraction was that they don't do it often at the clinic there, so would rather it being done by someone with a certificate. I just went along with it because I didn't think vets are the type of people that try to take money off of people. Anyway, when the vet at Pets at Home gave me the quote, and I told my husband, he was not impressed at the price so I thought I would give it a quick google to see what the norm was.

She has now referred me to an "exotic specialist" at another vet now, and I have made an appointment already for Thursday so will go along there to see what their opinion as it might be different to the vet at Pets at Home. Although for some reason, they charge almost double (£90!) for a consultation through a referral which I thought was a bit weird! If it still doesn't seem right I'll give that Simon a call - thank you for that.
 
mikironicheese said:
Oh, perhaps they meant to remove the remaining bottom one, now I'm not sure! The point of the removal is to be a more permanent fix, rather than having to go back every few months spending £200, so I figured it was the top teeth as they're the ones that are constantly growing. She said she didn't want to do it consciously due to fear of fracturing the teeth, that's why I spent £200 to get it done under anaesthetic. But now I am thinking if that was even worth it after seeing many posts about getting it done for £20 without anaesthetic. Perhaps she was unexperienced? The reason for the referral for extraction was that they don't do it often at the clinic there, so would rather it being done by someone with a certificate. I just went along with it because I didn't think vets are the type of people that try to take money off of people. Anyway, when the vet at Pets at Home gave me the quote, and I told my husband, he was not impressed at the price so I thought I would give it a quick google to see what the norm was.

She has now referred me to an "exotic specialist" at another vet now, and I have made an appointment already for Thursday so will go along there to see what their opinion as it might be different to the vet at Pets at Home. Although for some reason, they charge almost double (£90!) for a consultation through a referral which I thought was a bit weird! If it still doesn't seem right I'll give that Simon a call - thank you for that.
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Going under anaesthesia so much doesn’t seem good long term, especially as piggy gets older. Regardless if you have the bottom removed, you will still need regular burring. The only difference is that if you only have the top incisors, it requires no technique or precision when burred and can be cut by anyone. Whereas burring teeth which still meet does requires expertise. I’ve never heard of teeth being fractured through conscious burring, in fact Simon even burrs back teeth consciously too
 
Oh, I see. It seems to me, based on your information, that the Pets at Home vet is probably just not experienced with guinea pigs. Hopefully the other vet will have a better idea :hmm:If that is the case I'll just move over to the other vet!

If I'm also not happy with the other vet then I'll look into the Brixham one if @Bill & Ted is able to give me the vet details.

Thanks :)
 
Little Ones said:
Going under anaesthesia so much doesn’t seem good long term, especially as piggy gets older. Regardless if you have the bottom removed, you will still need regular burring. The only difference is that if you only have the top incisors, it requires no technique or precision when burred and can be cut by anyone. Whereas burring teeth which still meet does requires expertise. I’ve never heard of teeth being fractured through conscious burring, in fact Simon even burrs back teeth consciously too
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The back teeth are filed, not burred. It wouldn’t be safe to use a dental bur on the back teeth with the guinea pig conscious. However, conscious incisor burrs are safe and won’t splinter the teeth. Teeth should never be clipped.
 
Pets at Home referred me to Ian Sayers at Greenbay vets in Torquay - he seems like a recommended vet on this forum so hopefully he will be more helpful! The problem is with the front incisors, her back teeth seem to be fine (she eats normally). Thank you so much for your help !
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
The back teeth are filed, not burred. It wouldn’t be safe to use a dental bur on the back teeth with the guinea pig conscious. However, conscious incisor burrs are safe and won’t splinter the teeth. Teeth should never be clipped.
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That’s what I mean, sorry! My point was that I don’t think fractures are common at all through conscious dental work vs unconscious dental work. I’ve heard of awful things happening with teeth being clipped, but not with burring or filing.
 
Cheeto had hers clipped the first time by Pets at Home vet :eek:.. I trusted their decision as a vet but now know that wasn't a good idea, so I'm glad to be referred to a more specialized vet. I might just move all three pigs over in the end...!
 
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