Malocclusion: how soon will it reoccur?

[yasmin]

My Degu, Azure, was drooling, at the water bottle alot, and taking treats but just giving them a nibble and dropping them, so I took her to the vet on Saturday. He looked at her teeth. She has lingual malocclusion — a couple of her back molars grow towards her tongue and had immobilized it. He sedated her and took off the tips that were pinning her tongue. (How many back molars does a degu have?)

He said that in her case it is likely to be a genetic issue and is likely to recur. She will therefore need regular dental work so I want to budget for it. Does anyone have any idea how soon/often I can expect it to recur? Every 6 weeks? 3 months?

If it recurs too frequently to be manageable, I can have the offending molars removed. Has anyone's degus had a couple of back molars removed? Any advice re: this option?

Thanks.

[deguconvert]

I can't say this is a for certain thing, but I seem to recall hearing that a degus jaw is constructed such that it in unable to sustain that kind of a surgery. Hopefully some of our other members that are really knowledgeable about dental issues in degus will clarify this. Degu teeth grow quickly and I think 6 weeks between treatments could be on the furthest stretch between, but I am not sure about this either. Their teeth grow VERY quickly!!

[yasmin]

Yiiiikes! I guess I should be prepared to set aside at least $25 a week ($1,300 a year) for her dental treatments.

I will try and do some research re: the back molar extraction, and hope to hear from any other members that might have had to deal with this issue. (I have – not by choice but by circumstance/bad luck/other person's error – 15 other degus all related to each other. I pray that they haven't inherited this. If they have, then maybe I should consider changing careers; it just might be more financially viable to become a vet myself. )

[fred]

I don't have any personal experience but have seen quite a few posts on the German DeguForum, where they have a lot (searching with “”molars” gives 1347 hits). Such teeth problems often recur but the time intervals seem highy variable. While molars can be removed, I would be concerned that this could have a negative effect on the remaining, opposing molars. Should you want to consider this at some point, we could ask on DeguForum for their opinion.

[Maravilla]

Fred is right. I don't have experiences on my own but read about a couple of cases and talked to a friend too. She had to go to the vet with one degu (8 years approx.) every 5-6 weeks to do this correction. With another degu, she just went once, nearly a year ago and never again since then. This degu lady, about 7-8 years old if I remember well, is doing fine and eating properly.
How old is your degu?

[yasmin]

If the Humane Society is correct (which, they often aren't, usually underestimating the animal's age), she is approx. four years old. I have had her since the end of June (5 months) and this is the first time that she has had this issue (as far as I know) in that time.

[NightwishRaven999]

The Malocclusion is often reoccuring...but as mentioned, in some cases the problem does not reoccur for a while. One of my degus has had her molars trimmed down twice in the last 2 years. The problem came back about a month and a half after the first trimming, but so far did not re-surface. Drooling around the corners of the mouth and chin are the most prominent signs of this problem...often the molars will cause pain, laccerating the tongue and the inside of cheeks.

Let us know if Azure starts showing signs of this problem again.

[yasmin]

Thanks.

Yes, I will let you all know when this problem resurfaces again. Right now she is still drooling a bit; the vet said to give it a few days because she also has a broken lower front tooth and her tongue will take a few days to recover. At least I have seen her eat (and swallow) degu pellets.

[Ady]

Hello,
I just wonder if some degu needs his teeth to be done every 6 weeks or so, will repetead anesthesia have any effect on their health?

[19Uhr30]

As the other postings already told you: It is quite likely that a degu who needed his teeth trimmed will be in need of it again. But how fast the problem reoccurs varies a lot. And I guess you will just have to wait and see how fast your degu's teeth grow and how bad her malocclusion is.
There are however two pieces of advice I can offer:
1. Keep track of your degu's weight. That way you will see when she has problems earlier and she will not be that weakend before the procedure.
2. Increase the ammount of fresh food. I have made some good experience with it and so have several other people. A degu can eat fresh food much better than dried food when their teeth are not in a good shape and because they eat more of it, their teeth will wear off better. It will not make the problem go away, but it might very well increase to periods between the trimmings. But remember to increase the ammounts of fresh food gradually. A fast change of food may cause digestive problems.

I just wonder if some degu needs his teeth to be done every 6 weeks or so, will repetead anesthesia have any effect on their health?

According to my vet, he could knock my degu out every day without any effect on her health. I would be a bit more cautious then that but besides the general risk of every anethesia, I do not think that the degu will suffer any harm from it.

How many back molars does a degu have?

On every side a degu has one premolar and three molars. So... All together a degu has 20 teeth. (4 incisors, 4 premolars and 12 molars)

[yasmin]

Thanks 19Uhr30. I will take your advice and weigh her as well as up their fresh food offering. They usually get a bit at least twice a week and they enjoy it. Also thanks for the tooth count.

[yasmin]

This morning, Azure weighed 214 g (a little on the skinny side?)

She is still drooling and she doesn't seem interested in pellets. She likes peas so I am giving her some peas along with some oats and a sunflower seed (very small seeds harvested from the sunflowers in my garden) twice a day. I don't know if it's just my imagination, but it looks like Lilac, Azure's sister, has started drooling a bit too. I hope I'm just being hyper about it. I will weigh her as well and keep an eye on her eating habits.

[19Uhr30]

The weight alone does not tell you that much. For a large degu it would be very low. For a really small one it could be a very good weight. You need to look at the weight over some time to find out what is the normal weight of your degu.

Have you tried to make a pap from pulverized pellets and water (and oatmeal/nuts/carrot for better taste)? That's kind of a self-made version of critical care. Would have a better nutricional value then just seeds and peas. It seems the first thing to achieve now is that she eats. So... At least she eats something. Some degus need a few days after the trimming to get used to the new "mouth feeling" and start eating normally. And they usually start with the more tasty bits and treats. But since it is almost a week now...
You could also ask your vet for some pain medication and see if she eats better with it. But since she is still drooling I would guess there is still some kind of "mechanical problem", that did not get fixed.

I would say that keeping an eye on the eating habits and the weight is always a good thing (I just realize that's a horrible thing to tell a woman. You can't do that outside of a pet forum...) but please do not get hyper about it. You cannot worry about every weight loss that might just be because the degu peed shortly before. So... Do not panic about Lilac at the first sight of a problem, that might not even exist.

[yasmin]

Thanks. Lilac looked fine today. And I saw Azure nibbling on a pellet last night and she seemed to be drool-free. However, when I checked this morning, she was drooling again. I'll keep a close eye on her on the weekend, weigh her (but not freak out about it : and I might try to feed her the pellet 'pap' as you described.

I truly appreciate the support.