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Burring molars-best/correct method?

N

Nicola3

Mama Doe
Hi fwiends,

As some of you may know I am having probs with Harvey again. He went in for a dental last Thursday and my vet discovered that his gums have grown up on the inside of his back molars on both sides. The gums are a healthy pink colour and my vet couldn't see any sign of infection. My vet has never come across this before in a rabbit and is making enquiries as to how it is caused and what the best possible treatment is.

My question is what is the best method of burring molars? My vet has always burred them down as far as she can but I know that some vets only burr the spikes off. I wonder whether burring the molars right down may have caused the gums to grow up?

Please can you all tell me what method your vet uses when burring. Do they burr the molars right down or do they just burr a small amount off the molar. Also if anyone has ever encountered gums growing up on the molars I would be very grateful to hear from you.

L of L,

Nicola and Harvey xxx
 
I think it depends on how each individual Bunny wears down the molar teeth as to how much is burred off. If the teeth are burred to the point where they dont meet with their opposite number, ie taken out of occlusion, then the teeth are likely to erupt a lot more quickly. Whether that can cause gum overgrowth I dont know.

Oh, and the name of that Rabbit 'Dentist' you asked me about Is David Crossley

David Crossley BVetMed DipEVDC PhD MRCVS
Animal Medical Centre Referral Services, Chorlton, Manchester, M21 0UB
Tel: 0161 881 3329, Fax: 0161 861 8553
Website: www.dacross.com


Janex
 
Thanks Jane :D ,

I've just found his website....very interesting. Thank you very much.

Big hugs,

Nicola and Harvey xxx
 
In the rabbit reference section there is an article I wrote on teeth where I have some references for both methods I think (not sure if the links still work). I seem to remember "the" expert on rabbit teeth (David that is mentioned above) always burrs completely down but my old rabbit specialist vet only burred the spurs off Athena's teeth when she had that problem.

Caz
 
Hi Caz,

Thanks for replying. I have been scouring that section you wrote. How often did your bun have to have her molars filed when she had just the spurs removed?

The problem Harvey has encountered now is that his gums have grown up on the inside of his back molar teeth about a quarter of the way up the teeth. Do you have any idea what causes this? I wondered whether the method of burring used may result in gum growth or if there is another underlying reason. Have you ever heard of this?

Thanks for your help.

Hugs,

Nicola and Harvey xxx
 
Athena's only needed burring once - her problem was poor diet at her previous home so once she was on a mainly hay diet the vet kept an eye on them at her check-ups but they never needed doing again. About 18months later she got in a fight and broke her front tooth so they x-rayed and the vet noticed slight regrowth of the spurs then but about six months after that she died (from unknown causes) so they never got to the point they needed redoing - sorry.

I haven't heard of the gums growing up before - didn't come across it in my research but the article is a couple of years old now.

Caz
 
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