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Malocclusion? plz read
Teeth problems explained.
One of my chinchillas. teeth nice and yellow, straight, tip of teeth an even line for chewing etc
Above- One of Suki's Rescue chinchillas! How could anyone allow their chinchilla to have teeth problems such as this? Malocclusion at it's worse. roots growing up into the eye socket visible teeth uneven and not aligned. This chinchilla was underweight and obviously in great pain. Please check your chinchillas teeth monthly.
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Often if a chinchilla is crumbling it's chinchilla pellets, stopped eating hay, wet fur on front, weepy eyes and losing weight our first thought is Malocclusion. Often though it's not dreaded Malocclusion. It should not really have got to the wet fur or weepy eye stage in the first instance if you are an observant owner. Some chinchillas are not given much hay to chew on. They need hay to grind down their molar teeth (back teeth) and wood to gnaw on for their incisor teeth. The vet must do a tooth check by using a bucal pad which is often traumatic for the chinchilla but done quickly will do them no harm. Best way to check for Malocclusion is to have an x-ray of all the teeth. Tis will show any root deformity which is of course Mallocclusion.
Sometimes though it is just overgrowth through giving wrong feeding. See my page on my thoughts concerning bad feeding. If just overgrowth or one spur (misaligned tooth overgrowth) this can be corrected in same manner as rabbits teeth. They can be clipped by a vet and thus making then shorter. A spur however requires regular trips to vet to have the spur ground down.
Chinchilla teeth grow at such a fast rate. I cannot emphasise enough how the hay rack should have hay in it at 'all' times. safe wood should also be in the cage for them to chew and gnaw on. This will all help to make sure your chinchilla is healthy. Please also cut back on those tempting treats you buy for your chinchilla. You are not doing them favours by doing so. Indeed you may be curtailing there lifespan by feeding too many treats. Make up your own mix of oats etc for them. Cut out those sugary treats like raisins etc. you are shortening their life by constantly feeding rubbish.
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Going to the vet
He explained that dental overgrowth (malocclusion) as we all know affects the grinding surfaces of the teeth, causing them to over-grow, misalign and form spurs and sharp edges that cause the chinchilla much discomfort and difficulty eating. This can affect any teeth, incisors, pre-molars and molars.
The usual treatment for the affected grinding surfaces is to have them filed or clipped down whilst the chinchilla is under anaesthetic.
However, malocclusion can also affect the roots of the teeth too (this shows up well on X-rays). With the upper teeth they over-grow upwards into the skull and towards the eye orbits. With the lower teeth, they can over-grow downwards, into, and out of, the lower jaw. The lower tooth roots grow much faster than the upper ones. Understandably this root over-growth causes the chinchilla to suffer from chronic jaw-ache which may prevent the chinchilla fully recovering, even though they may have had surgery to correct the grinding surfaces.
Until very recently this root condition was untreatable in chinchillas and only rabbits were operated on to correct it but now (in the last 5 months) vets are attempting a pioneering new operation that, until now, has only been used successfully on rabbits.
It involves making an incision under the chinchillas chin and then using a tiny drill drilling out the roots of all the lower teeth thus killing the roots and stopping them from continuing to over-grow. Unfortunately it is only the roots in the lower jaw that can be operated on in this way and not the upper roots.
Once the tooth roots have been killed they stay in place (and not fall out) and the chinchilla can go back to a pain-free life and can eat a normal diet again. In time, the chinchilla will grow new bone around the tooth roots.
There is one minor drawback, because the teeth have been killed by this surgery and no longer grow and renew themselves and will eventually wear down. But that can take some years and in the meantime the chinchillas quality of life is greatly improved.
So far only 4 chinchillas (that the vet knows about) have been operated on using this new procedure 3 of which have survived. The fourth one only died because he tore out his stitches and got a bad secondary infection.
Although the long-term prospects are unknown as yet it really does look like there will be some hope now for chinchillas with chronic dental problems involving tooth roots as well.
As far as my vet knows there are only two vets in the UK (I cannot comment on other countries) that are performing this new surgical procedure.
A new breakthrough in malloclusion (tooth overgrowth)
He explained that dental overgrowth (malocclusion) as we all know affects the grinding surfaces of the teeth, causing them to over-grow, misalign and form spurs and sharp edges that cause the chinchilla much discomfort and difficulty eating. This can affect any teeth, incisors, pre-molars and molars.
The usual treatment for the affected grinding surfaces is to have them filed or clipped down whilst the chinchilla is under anaesthetic.
However, malocclusion can also affect the roots of the teeth too (this shows up well on X-rays). With the upper teeth they over-grow upwards into the skull and towards the eye orbits. With the lower teeth, they can over-grow downwards, into, and out of, the lower jaw. The lower tooth roots grow much faster than the upper ones. Understandably this root over-growth causes the chinchilla to suffer from chronic jaw-ache which may prevent the chinchilla fully recovering, even though they may have had surgery to correct the grinding surfaces.
Until very recently this root condition was untreatable in chinchillas and only rabbits were operated on to correct it but now (in the last 5 months) vets are attempting a pioneering new operation that, until now, has only been used successfully on rabbits.
It involves making an incision under the chinchillas chin and then using a tiny drill drilling out the roots of all the lower teeth thus killing the roots and stopping them from continuing to over-grow. Unfortunately it is only the roots in the lower jaw that can be operated on in this way and not the upper roots.
Once the tooth roots have been killed they stay in place (and not fall out) and the chinchilla can go back to a pain-free life and can eat a normal diet again. In time, the chinchilla will grow new bone around the tooth roots.
There is one minor drawback, because the teeth have been killed by this surgery and no longer grow and renew themselves and will eventually wear down. But that can take some years and in the meantime the chinchillas quality of life is greatly improved.
So far only 4 chinchillas (that the vet knows about) have been operated on using this new procedure 3 of which have survived. The fourth one only died because he tore out his stitches and got a bad secondary infection.
Although the long-term prospects are unknown as yet it really does look like there will be some hope now for chinchillas with chronic dental problems involving tooth roots as well.
As far as my vet knows there are only two vets in the UK (I cannot comment on other countries) that are performing this new surgical procedure.
If at all worried do please email me kingdomchinchillas@hotmail.com