Teeth Trimming

One of the main questions we had for the vet at Sushi's initial appointment was what her quality of life would be if we managed her malocclusion. In other words, would having to spend her life dealing with such horrific teeth be stressful? Excluding any concerns regarding cost or convenience, was this something we could put her through in good conscience?

There are a couple of different options for trimming rat teeth. Their teeth are similar to fingernails, in that they have no feeling and can be trimmed easily, as long as you stay away from the blood supply. After a rat has had their teeth trimmed properly, they have no soreness and can eat and chew immediately. Because of this, it is possible to trim a rat's teeth yourself, assuming you have the right equipment and know what you are doing. One of the recommended trimmers is a guillotine-style nail clipper, which slips over the top of the tooth and then cuts it to the desired length.

Naturally, it's a bit more complicated for Sushi. Because her teeth bend almost immediately, we can't use the normal type of trimmer. There isn't any way to slip anything over the teeth to cut them. Anything used has to be like a saw and cut directly into the tooth itself. She's also a fraction of the size of a normal rat, meaning we have less room to work and maneuver.

When Sushi's teeth are trimmed by the vet, she is put under anesthetic. There are risks associated anytime someone is put out, but this allows the teeth trimming process to be very low stress for her. It also means that the vet can easily prop her mouth open and trim carefully, getting the teeth as short as possible.

Our vet uses a diamond tipped dental saw on Sushi. Rat teeth are remarkably strong (rats can generate about 10 lbs of pressure with a single bite), so anything used to cut them has to be powerful, and will still dull quickly. The entire process of trimming her teeth, from putting her out until she wakes back up, is about ten minutes. It isn't a complicated process but using anesthetic allows it to be relatively stress free for her.

That said, frequent use of anesthetic is also a danger. When Sushi first had her teeth trimmed, we hoped she could make it 4-6 weeks before the next trimming. Sadly, within three weeks her teeth were pushing up against her gums again and she began eating much less. Her second trimming was 19 days ago and her teeth are already closely approaching her gums again. At her current rate of growth, she is going to need her teeth trimmed every 21-24 days. Not only does that quickly become expensive, it also begs the question of how much is too much. Our vet is okay with putting her under every 3-4 weeks if needed but he is concerned about doing it more frequently than that.  Yet Sushi's teeth grow at a phenomenal rate.

One option we began discussing after her second vet appointment is the possibility of surgically removing all of her teeth. Elderly rats do fine on a modified diet once they lose their teeth, so it is reasonable to think Sushi would do the same as a youngster. However, because of how the bony plates in the mouth grow, Sushi isn't a candidate for surgery until she has stopped growing. So we still have at least another 6-8 months to get through before that is even a possibility. We're hoping that her teeth growth slows as she gets out of adolescence. All we can do at this point is keep a close eye on her and her teeth, and make sure she's eating.

We hope to get pictures of the entire trimming procedure the next time she goes to the vet. In the meantime, here is a picture of Sushi and Saké in their nest.

It's easy to see how much bigger Saké is when they curl up together.