[Gpdd] HEALTH: Piggie Dental Problems

[Candy G.]

Rather than folks having to wade through the post of yesterday with the jumbled 
spacing, I'd like to post the most important part again because I don't recall seeing 
one of the problems mentioned in the digest before (unless I missed it) and maybe 
it will be helpful for a little piggie in the future.
 
If your piggie is having dental or eating problems and the usual vet dental treatment 
and procedures that should be helping are not working, you might want to consider:
 
Piggie teeth not only grow at the "chewing end" into the mouth.  They can also grow 
at the "root end".  When the root ends start growing into the jaw bone, and especially 
growing upwards through the upper jaw into the sinus cavities, a symptom you might 
notice is that the piggie may have a runny nose and/or a crusty eye on that side (or 
both sides if the problem is bilateral).  This may be very slight and almost unnoticeable.
  
This dental problem seems to be more serious in piggies than in rabbits because piggies 
have more pain associated with it.  Sometimes, this problem can be solved by extracting 
the teeth involved.  If the teeth are loosened by infection, the extraction can be safer 
and more successful.  But, because the teeth are grown into the bone of the jawline, 
if the teeth are still tight and strongly seated, pulling them can fracture the fragile 
jawbone and cause further and more severe problems for the piggie.  With the exception 
of extraction, there is no cure for this kind of overgrowth of the teeth.  It can usually be 
seen on xray if the piggie's head is in the right position.  Most of the time, the pain can 
be controlled for a while with Metacam or other anti-inflammatory or pain meds.  
 
ALSO - a separate but serious and life-threatening problem: 
 
Arthritis can develop in the mandible/jaw and gradually lock the joints so that the piggie 
can't get adequate food into the mouth and cannot use the chewing/grinding motions that 
keep the teeth at a proper length and allow for adequate nutrition.  This process develops 
slowly and, because of the excellent masking ability of piggies to hide pain and illness, 
may not be noticed as a "mouth or dental problem" until it is fairly advanced.  Sometimes 
the only 'early' symptoms are a very gradual weight loss, a very slow and slight decrease 
(across time) in food intake, and refusing certain foods that were previously enjoyed.  
 
This condition is very hard right now to spot on xray and so diagnosis is difficult.  There 
is no cure, especially when the arthritis is advanced.  In some cases, because of the 
arthritis and jaw position, even gentle syringe feeding can cause severe pain for the piggie. 
 
I hope no piggie ever has to have either of these problems but maybe, if it does happen,
having some information on them will allow you and your vet to spot them more quickly.
 
Much love to all peoples and piggies and gentle strength and healing to all who are ill or 
broken-hearted.
 
Candy and the Notorious Cat X
(with Topper and Mollie always in our hearts)