Darious' Misaligned Molar
Hello again, readers,
Today we wanted to discuss Darious and his teeth - his molars in particular. We've spoken about his dentals a fair amount on our Instagram before, we always have our dental appointments scheduled for around the 4th of every month. In case you're wondering why the 4th, it's purely because we normally do our extra thorough weight, nail, teeth and other general health checks such as checking for masses etc on the 1st of the month. So, scheduling the dentals for the 4th, one; gives us time to actually properly carry out all of them checks (we normally do it over 1-3 days), and two; means we already have an existing vet appointment ready in case any non-urgent, but still concerning, things come up during those health checks. We do keep our eyes open for these things anyway, but it's nice to have a day dedicated to triple checking and logging everything - it just leaves no stone unturned.
Anyway, back on topic; we like to keep everyone informed on Instagram as to how the residents who have dentals (Alisaie, Darious, Hagrid, Percy, and Quinnie) get on. During the most recent dental appointment, we had some extra radiology imaging carried out too. We decided it would be worth making a blog posts about some of the discoveries and changes to some of the current treatment plans - this post is about Darious (incase you hadn't already figured that out).
Darious has one offending lower molar that we normally have trimmed back once every month to avoid any ulceration. The molar grows lingually (towards the tongue). The misalignment is pretty significant and our vet thought it would be wise to take some X-Rays so she could see exactly what was happening inside Darious' mouth - she wasn't sure if it was just an issue with the exposed tooth, or if there was something hidden beneath in the gums, around the root of the tooth too. We thought it was a reasonable request, so for Darious' sakes (and out of sheer curiosity) we agreed to have the images taken.
Darious' teeth are all perfect minus that one molar. Which seemed a real shame, as if it wasn't for that tooth, then Darious wouldn't need dentals anymore.
Our vet recommended we go for the tooth removal. The tooth would hopefully be removed by tooth extraction - similar to how you'd remove a human tooth. Failing that, then the tooth could be pushed into the mouth from under the jaw, or destroy the root so the tooth cannot regrow - but there is the risk of jaw fracture.
We did ask about the grinding surface of the molar above the offending tooth. We thought without the misaligned molar being there, wouldn't the above molar just overgrow and cause the same problem? According to the exotic specialist, not likely. It is more likely that the misaligned molar isn't acting as a grinding surface anyway, so Darious shouldn't come up with any more complications.
The way we look at it, no matter which treatment plan we go for, Darious is at risk. Continous anaesthetic every single month for the rest of Darious' life is risky, tooth extraction is risky - we cannot escape risk. But, with only one option does Darious have the chance to go back to a normal degu life; tooth removal.
We decided to go for tooth removal. We cannot say when the surgery will be, as we are currently in the process of finding the best vet to perform the risky and complex surgery. We will do a separate post for the surgery and Darious' recovery as and when that happens. Until then, Darious will continue with his normal treatment plan.
Today we wanted to discuss Darious and his teeth - his molars in particular. We've spoken about his dentals a fair amount on our Instagram before, we always have our dental appointments scheduled for around the 4th of every month. In case you're wondering why the 4th, it's purely because we normally do our extra thorough weight, nail, teeth and other general health checks such as checking for masses etc on the 1st of the month. So, scheduling the dentals for the 4th, one; gives us time to actually properly carry out all of them checks (we normally do it over 1-3 days), and two; means we already have an existing vet appointment ready in case any non-urgent, but still concerning, things come up during those health checks. We do keep our eyes open for these things anyway, but it's nice to have a day dedicated to triple checking and logging everything - it just leaves no stone unturned.
Anyway, back on topic; we like to keep everyone informed on Instagram as to how the residents who have dentals (Alisaie, Darious, Hagrid, Percy, and Quinnie) get on. During the most recent dental appointment, we had some extra radiology imaging carried out too. We decided it would be worth making a blog posts about some of the discoveries and changes to some of the current treatment plans - this post is about Darious (incase you hadn't already figured that out).
Darious has one offending lower molar that we normally have trimmed back once every month to avoid any ulceration. The molar grows lingually (towards the tongue). The misalignment is pretty significant and our vet thought it would be wise to take some X-Rays so she could see exactly what was happening inside Darious' mouth - she wasn't sure if it was just an issue with the exposed tooth, or if there was something hidden beneath in the gums, around the root of the tooth too. We thought it was a reasonable request, so for Darious' sakes (and out of sheer curiosity) we agreed to have the images taken.
Our vet recommended we go for the tooth removal. The tooth would hopefully be removed by tooth extraction - similar to how you'd remove a human tooth. Failing that, then the tooth could be pushed into the mouth from under the jaw, or destroy the root so the tooth cannot regrow - but there is the risk of jaw fracture.
We did ask about the grinding surface of the molar above the offending tooth. We thought without the misaligned molar being there, wouldn't the above molar just overgrow and cause the same problem? According to the exotic specialist, not likely. It is more likely that the misaligned molar isn't acting as a grinding surface anyway, so Darious shouldn't come up with any more complications.
We decided to go for tooth removal. We cannot say when the surgery will be, as we are currently in the process of finding the best vet to perform the risky and complex surgery. We will do a separate post for the surgery and Darious' recovery as and when that happens. Until then, Darious will continue with his normal treatment plan.
You can keep up with Darious on our Instagram.
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