Teeth problems – overgrowth

The incisors, premolars, and molars (cheek teeth) of guinea pigs grow throughout life. Guinea pigs do not have any canine teeth and have 20 teeth in total. The normal length is maintained by the wearing action of the opposing teeth. Malocclusion is one of the most common inherited diseases in guinea pigs and leads to overgrowth of incisors, premolars and molars, with resultant difficulty in eating and drinking and associated pain.

A temporary correction can be made by burring the overgrown incisor teeth down with a dental burr and filing any pre-molar or molar overgrowth down. Cutting teeth with bone, wire cutters or nail clippers is not recommended due to the pressure it exerts upon the teeth. This often leads to them shattering, resulting in pain, tooth root infections and abscesses.

Because malocclusion is generally considered to be inherited, guinea pigs with this condition should not be bred from. However, young guinea pigs can damage their incisor teeth by pulling on the cage wire, which results in misalignment and possibly malocclusion as the teeth grow. This type of malocclusion or one caused by trauma to the teeth, may resolve by itself after burring of the teeth, but may take more than one treatment.

Guinea pigs are often taken to the veterinarians for overgrown teeth. This may be for either incisor and/or cheek teeth overgrowth.

Overgrown teeth can cause immense pain to the guinea pig since the incisor teeth can grow up or down into the opposing lips. Cheek teeth often cause painful ulcers on the tongue or cheeks, even possibly semi severing the tongue! And the lower cheek teeth can bridge over the tongue, making it almost impossible for the guinea pig to move the tongue and eat.

The best way of avoiding teeth problems is to purchase your guinea pig from a reputable breeder who knows the history of your guinea pig’s family and has ensured that only those guinea pigs who have no dental disease in the breeding line have been used. Rescue centers will also do a thorough health check before re-homing a guinea pig to ensure there are no health concerns evident. However, this isn’t going to guarantee that your guinea pig doesn’t develop overgrown teeth, since the most common cause of dental disease is a poor or incorrect diet.

As all guinea pig’s teeth are open rooted and grown throughout life, they need to have a constant supply of hay and grass to enable them to chew and wear the teeth down. Unlimited amounts of fresh, meadow hay and access to graze on grass provide the guinea pig with fibrous and abrasive feeding matter which not only creates a side to side chewing action, which is perfect for wearing the teeth down, but also ensures the guinea pig is getting a high fiber diet, which helps to keep the digestive system moving.

On top of the hay and grass, offer a small amount of a specifically formulated guinea pig nugget food, of which there are several varieties available now to prevent the guinea pig from selectively feeding. It is important to offer guinea pig and not rabbit pellets, since guinea pig pellets have added vitamin C in them, which guinea pigs need in their diet as they cannot produce their own. Guinea pigs who are allowed to selectively feed, and pick out certain pieces of the muesli style food, will over-time become deficient in calcium and phosphorus which allows the teeth to loosen in the sockets slightly and misaligns them, leading to overgrowth. This is the reason that muesli diets should not be fed.

Allow your guinea pig to have fresh greens/fruits/vegetables daily.

Providing straw/wicker mats, plaits, baskets etc. for your guinea pig to play with and chew on is another way of getting them to chew on abrasive materials and keeping them entertained at the same time.

Avoid feeding sugary treats bought from pet shops.

It is important to check your guinea pig’s teeth on a regular basis, at least on a weekly basis, to ensure you pick up on any potential dental problems before they start causing them any discomfort. Whilst checking the incisor (front) teeth is possible, it is impossible to check the guinea pigs’ cheek teeth without taking your guinea pig to a veterinarian, so knowing what symptoms a guinea pig may show with overgrown teeth is important.

Your guinea pig may salivate or have matted/wet fur around their mouth and under their chin. Weight loss may occur if the problem is allowed to go on for a while before treatment is sought. Your guinea pig may struggle to eat certain foods and favour others or stop eating completely (which is an emergency and veterinary attention must be sought straight away) and they will pass fewer or no droppings.

Your guinea pig may sit hunched up and grind its teeth loudly in pain and be uninterested in its surroundings. All of these symptoms may indicate a tooth overgrowth and your guinea pig must be seen by a veterinarian as soon as possible.

This really depends on which teeth are overgrowing.

Overgrowth of the incisor teeth can be maintained by frequent burring of the teeth, which is often possible to do on a conscious guinea pig but may need repeating every 2-3 weeks.

Cheek teeth malocclusion may need regular dentals under anesthetic, to rasp off the sharp edges, often every 4-6 weeks, but sometimes as long as 6-12 months between treatments is seen. You will need to be vigilant for symptoms. If your guinea pig has a good quality of life between treatments and you are able to afford such regular veterinary care, then this can carry on for many years. But if the guinea pig’s quality of life is poor between the treatments or you can’t afford the financial commitment (possibly £100 per treatment for the rest of the guinea pig’s life), then putting the guinea pig to sleep is often the only option.