Never

trim the incisors of your rabbit yourself !!!

MediRabbit.com is funded solely by the generosity of donors. Every donation, no matter what the size, is appreciated and will aid in the continuing research of medical care and health of rabbits. Thank you

Correct length and alignment of maxillary and mandibular incisors (Photo: A. van Praag)

Healthy occlusion showing the chisel-shaped occlusion of the mandibular (lower jaw) incisors of a rabbit between the maxillary incisors and peg teeth (Photo: A. van Praag)

In a healthy occlusion, the top incisors should overlap the bottom incisors slightly. The bottom incisors should rest between the first and second pair of upper incisors. The second pair is located right behind the upper incisors.

Clinical presentations of different rabbit dental disorders

Appearing healthy...	but suffering from a tooth root abscess
(Photos: Veterinary Exotic Information Network)
Grave abnormal occlusion of incisors in a rabbit
(Photos: Dr. C. Morales, Prestonwood Animal Clinic, Houston, USA)

Never use a pair of small wire cutters or nail clippers to trim your rabbit's overgrown

Incisors !!!

It is painful and unpleasant, and will sooner or later lead to serious dental problems!!!

Using a rotary tool (e.g. a Dremel) for the self-treatment of incisors is also dangerous without proper training or precise instruction from a veterinary professional. How can you safely restrain a rabbit, open its mouth, file its incisors, ensure that the tooth temperature does not become too high, see how much filing has been done and avoid touching or damaging the tongue? What about pain relief?

Trancing is not an effective way to keep the rabbit calm. It may wake up unexpectedly and try to fight or escape while its incisors are being trimmed with a Dremel tool. It's better not to imagine the consequences!

NEVER !!!

NEVER !!!

These pictures were taken for illustration purposes only and were reworked in the computer (Photos: A. van Praag).

Self-trimming a rabbit's incisors can cause tremendous distress and pain. Inevitably, self-trimming a rabbit's teeth has disastrous consequences. Dental problems frequently observed as a result of self-trimming with a cutter or nail clipper include:

· Sharp edges that could hurt the rabbit when it is eating or grooming itself;

· Stress fractures or longitudinal cracks in the tooth, either in the visible part or under the gum line;

· Tooth growth can stop growing due to damage of the tooth root (endodontic diseases);

· Exposure of the dental pulp which can result in pulpitis (inflammation of the innermost part of a tooth);

· Abscessation and changes to the surrounding tissues and the alveolar bone.

· Fracture of the jaw bone;

· Pain due to the sudden concussion of the dental pulp and nerves in the periodontal and periapical tissues surrounding the tooth root, due to the large amount of energy released into the tooth during the clipping.

If malocclusion of the incisors is present, regular self-trimming will often worsen the alignment, resulting in the need for drastic dental work when professional help is finally sought. In some cases, the problem may be so severe that euthanasia is the only option.

Georgie relaxing Georgie after jaw surgery to clear an abscess

Georgie, the black tongued rescue… When I first got Georgie, I brought him back into the vet, who was excited to see him again. He said that he had the worst teeth he had ever seen, (he had taken out the incisors before Georgie was mine, but the people wouldn't keep him, and gave him up one week after the operation) and went running around the clinic trying to find the teeth, which he kept to show people how bad they were...could not find them, so I never did see how bad they were. Georgie demonstrated first hand what happens when teeth are clipped by non-professionals from a young age. Those mouth abscesses that started in teeth roots finally ended him. The picture on the left was taken after the operation to repair an abscess in jaw, where there was a wad of antibiotic impregnated gauze rolled up inside the wound, held in place by an external stitch. At 10 days, I was to take the stitch out, pull out the gauze, and allow healing. I did that, and it bled a lot. My vet had neglected to inform me to expect that amount of fresh blood! I was very worried, and called; he said that was good, as it showed the wound was healing. I still insisted on having vet look at it. It was a good operation, and did heal well with only pain meds and ongoing broad spectrum antibiotics given. It was about another 28 months or so of managing abscesses with surgical repairs, and switching the diet over to less normal food, and more chopped and slurry, before this 12lb bunny became for all practical purposes, toothless. He still had molars, but they abruptly quit erupting about 3 years before he died. He had many ongoing small jaw abscesses, and was on constant pain meds, and antibiotics for the rest of his life. A particularity of Georgie was his black tongue. About 10 % of the ones my vet sees are black, and that makes it hard when they are under anesthesia, as they are always looking blue-black! Whew, that was nice to hear, as I know what I saw, and I have not ever seen another black tongue, and did not want poor toothless Georgie's tongue to be falling off! :))) Kim Chilson

Correction of dental disorders should be done by an experienced veterinarian only

If dental disease is suspected or observed, an oral examination of a conscious rabbit should be accompanied by a general examination, an examination of the oral cavity under full anesthesia and radiography of the skull from various angles. This will allow the health of the tooth roots and periodontal tissue to be assessed, as well as the presence of infection, abscesses, or osteomyelitis (bone inflammation).

The oral cavity of a rabbit is small and requires the use of incisor gags for proper visualization (Photo: Veterinary Exotic Information Network)

Set of tools used by a veterinarian for rabbit dentistry

Using specific dentistry tools is of utmost importance (Photo: Veterinary Exotic Information Network)

The oral cavity of the rabbit is small, and the jaws have limited mobility. This complicates the examination of the oral cavity with an otoscope on a conscious rabbit. Dental problems or lesions can easily be overlooked. A full evaluation of dental problems and their treatment (e.g. trimming of incisors, coronal reduction) is only possible on an anaesthetised rabbit, using proper instruments such as incisor gags, cheek pouch retractors or a table-top gag. If a rabbit is allergic to an anaesthetic drug or anaesthesia is not a viable option due to health concerns, trimming of overgrown incisors can be performed on a conscious but sedated rabbit.

Incisors and molars, on the other hand, have a high growth rate, about 11-12 cm a year throughout a rabbit's lifetime. It should be noted that the trimming of abnormally growing incisors may be required at four- to six-week intervals, and occasionally even three-week intervals. Surgical removal of the incisors may be an option to avoid regular visits to the veterinarian, more so to avoid the onset of soft tissue damage, abscesses and/or secondary problems like dacryocystitis and blockage of the sinuous nasolacrimal duct. In most cases, the tooth will not regrow after it has been removed.

In exceptional circumstances, a veterinarian may provide guidance to the owner on how to manage the incisors in cases where a rabbit is experiencing severe dental problems and regular trimming or surgical removal is not feasible. It is imperative that this situation remains an exception.

_____________________________________________________________

I would like to express my gratitude to Kim Chilson for sharing the story and pictures of her beloved Georgie rabbit.

I would also like to thank Dr. C. Morales and Debbie Hanson for providing pictures of malocclusion from Stella.

My rabbit Kaspi is also to be commended for his help and demonstration of dangerous clipping methods in rabbits.

Finally, I would like to thank Flora and the other rabbits who wished to remain anonymous.

e-mail: info@medirabbit.com