Darious' Tooth Extraction

Hello again, readers,

Today we wanted to follow on from a previous post where we discussed opting for Darious to have his misaligned molar tooth extracted.

To recap; Darious had a misaligned molar tooth which required monthly dental work. His dentals involved the offending molar tooth being filed down to prevent any spurs from causing damage to his mouth. Radiographs clearly show his offending tooth:

Singular misaligned molar tooth growing lingually (towards the tongue).

It seemed a shame that Darious appeared to have only one tooth spoiling the show. Without the tooth, his dental health would've been practically perfect - provided the wearing of the tooth above wouldn't have been affected without the molar being present. With that in mind, our vet and the exotic specialists recommended extraction: this could be performed the same way as extracting a human tooth. Alternatively, the tooth could be pushed into the mouth from under the jaw but with the added risk of jaw fracture. It is essential that the root of the tooth is removed, or destroyed so that the tooth cannot regrow.

Otherwise, it would've been a case of management with regular filing down of the tooth. This option still carried risk due to frequently requiring GA (general anesthetic). 

I'm sure if you've read the title, then you've already guessed that we decided to opt for extraction of the problematic tooth.

Darious on his journey home after surgery

The extracted molar tooth

The surgery was a huge success - the veterinary team at Charters smashed it! Darious' molar appeared to be extracted in its entirety. Naturally, he was sore afterward. We helped relieve some of his pain by prescribing Tramadol Hydrochloride (opioid) alongside Metacam/Meloxicam (NSAID).

In addition to pain relief, Darious was also temporarily introduced to supportive soft foods. We want to take this opportunity to thank Janine at 'The Degu Den Rescue' in Kent, she shared the recipe with us for her infamous 'recovery balls' - they were extremely fun to make!

Our vet also recommended that an additional X-Ray was taken 4 weeks after the surgery, this was to confirm that no tooth root had been left behind and that there were no signs of regrowth.

Darious intrigued by the 'recovery balls'

Darious' X-Ray post tooth extraction

4 weeks passed by and Darious' was admitted for a GA and an X-Ray. Thankfully, the radiograph was entirely reassuring. The tooth above was barely affected by the extraction of the tooth; likely because it wasn't acting as much of a wearing surface anyway. Darious was drug-free and managing his teeth independently. We had to monitor Darious for some time, however, given the promising start, it was likely he would be dental free in the future - provided no other abnormalities occurred.

The Radiograph was taken around the beginning of October 2018, it's now February 2019 and Darious' still hasn't required any further dental work. It's safe to say that the surgery was a complete success! Darious even got a feature on our veterinarians Facebook page.

You can keep up with Darious on our Instagram.