bottom incisor fell out

[Luci]

long story short,
i noticed blood on gizmo's paws. took him out to clean them to find the cut. there was none.
i check his mouth to be safe. his bottom right incisor is missing. there was a bit of blood but its not bleeding anymore.

i found the tooth in his food dish. i had fed him just 15 minutes before i found the blood so it happened while eating. im assuming it was already loose/cracked before he ate.

its hard to get pics of the tooth, but it looks like it came off in a bit of a slant. the bottom doesnt look porous so im hopeful that the bottom of the tooth is still there.

so should i take him to the vet? give him any meds? he doesnt seem to be in pain and tried eating earlier.

 

[ticklechin]

If there is no jagged edge and its stopped bleeding I would just wait and see how he reacts. The tooth will more than likely grow back, at that point it may need to be trimmed to clean up any rough edges. He may be sore so watch his food intake-you may need to handfeed for a bit.

 

[Riven]

Can you see the tooth? If so I'd let it go for a while and like Dawn said monitor his food intake. Also keep an eye on his top incisor on that side so it doesn't over grow.

 

[AZChins]

Would there be any concern about food getting stuck in the socket? That wouldn't cause any infection? (That is, if there is an empty pocket there.)

 

[mishellyshel]

also watch if it is jagged that it cant gum the cheek or inside of his mouth. if that happens often they get a cut that can cause irritation and infection.

personally if it was me, i would put my chin in the tri meth sulfa just in case, but that is because i have it and i would just be nervous that he would get an infection. i dont think it can do any harm, but perhaps those with more experience can provide more info.

 

[Laurie]

Luce, this happened to Abigail after a skirmish between the bars between her and Bobo. Abby's tooth did grow back in, she continued to eat and drink as normal, but I did have to take her in once to get the corresponding incisor filed until the other one grew back in and they met up again. Dawn was a big help to me back then and let me know that they chew with their molars so she would still be able to eat and she certainly did! I would still offer wood and such to chew to see if you can wear down the slant as it grows back in. And of course monitor it to make sure as Shelly said that it isn't causing any pain or cuts in the mouth.

I'm sure Gizmo will be be fine. Give him a nice smooch from me!

 

[Luci]

thanks so much everyone.

as for right now, im monitoring his behaviour. we're heading out of town for the weekend and theres an animal hospital in college station. i made an appointment for tomorrow morning should he need one.

i gave him a bit of metcam and he's eating hay. i cleaned the socket a bit with water, but cant see if theres any more tooth or root. tomorrow's appointment should determine if theres a root.

and let me just say...having only one bottom incisor does NOT lessen the strength of his bite. for the first time, i was actually afraid of him while getting him out of his cage.
he just seems annoyed right now. but he's gonna be getting a lot of attention and monitoring this weekend.

im packing all my emergency stuff: metacam, baytril, reglan (i just have it so i carry it when i travel), CC, lifeline, and syringes. oh...and his bathhouse. he needs a bath after this mornings wrestlings.

i'll keep you guys updated. thank you so much. without this forum, id be a wreck.

im heading out now. gonna travel through houston ACK!

 

[ticklechin]

I have had several chins who had teeth fall out and sockets left open, never had a problem with infection nor did I use a antibiotic-I personally do not use antibiotics unless there is a known reason for them. I only premedicated one chin with antibiotics without a known reason, that chin had pre-existing health issues and required deep cleaning of his perio pockets-infection was frequently found but not every time.

 

[Luci]

so just got back from the vet.

they were able to look at his gums and the tooth is broken, not completely missing. it broke off at the gumline which is why it was bleeding so much. the vet didnt advise xrays for another week or so just to see how/if the tooth grows. within 2 weeks, he'll probably need filing of the opposing tooth.

so i'll make an appointment with my regular vet around that time so we can start getting a better idea of how to proceed. as for now, he still has his appetite and absolutely hates everyone, except me. he's been kacking at anyone who touches him (or when robert hugs me-i guess gizmo is getting over protective now).

vet gave me more metacam and a prescription for baytril to lessen the chance of infection. i already have baytril so i just need to email the concentration of it so they can give me the dosage.

vet suggested i feed him critical care so he's not chewing as much. im still going to give him hay and pellets, but she advised some CC just to keep his weight up. im nervous that putting him on baytril will decrease his appetite. this happened last time and
he was put on reglan to gain the weight back. i feel as though im gonna have to do what i did last time: meds and syringe feeding.

he has an appetite, he eats what he has by pushing it to his back molars. im just nervous that since he chews on bars, it'll increase the chances of the other incisor to break off. does life line really help with bar chewing?

any input on this? peggy told me to avoid syringe feeding so he can keep using his teeth. now that he'll be on baytril, i wonder if i'll need to supplement his normal feedings with CC.

 

[Stackie]

I'd be iffy on giving him the baytril. Since there isn't an actual infection, I'm not sure why the vet is breaking out the big guns when it would probably just as good to use sulfa without the side effects. Especially since the baytril could affect his appetite....

If he is eating enough pellets to sustain himself I would be iffy on handfeeding him as well. Hopefully others can comment on this...

 

[tunes]

If he's on Baytril, you may not have a choice with hand feeding. If he was eating his normal amount, there was no point in putting him on the critical care.

Stack - The reason he probably went with Baytril is because a mouth infection can be really hard to treat. He may be doing a "head it off at the pass" kind of thing. Sulfa is a good antibiotics, but it's not going to cover everything.

 

[Sandi]

Ok, this is good to know. I'm sorry Luci about Gizmo and crossing fingers that he doesn't go off his feed to much. I've been watching Ivory like a hawk as he has always been an aggressive cage biter.

 

[Luci]

i'll monitor how much he eats. this weekend i'll be watching him closely and checking out his mouth, rinsing it with water if theres any food near the wound.

im being optimistic for a full recovery. it'll be a bumpy road but right now i have a lot of time to devote to him.

my only worry is that his cage chewing will harm the other tooth.

 

[AZChins]

I'm glad to hear that it went well. You can finally just relax.

That little wound in his mouth will heal very quickly, don't worry too much about any of it. I'm glad that everything looks alright. I expect that he will recover completely without any indication that he ever had this problem. I hope that the medication doesn't impact his appetite too much - you want him to chew as much as possible! He needs to maintain his pretty teeth...

 

[Luci]

so my vet also emailed me their findings from Gizmo's vet visit so i can take to my regular doctor.

as i said earlier, my main concern right now is cage chewing. any ideas on how to go about this?

oh...and i dont have Word on my computer yet so i couldnt edit the file. if anyone wants to use my address...please send me some cookies and snacks for gizmo! lol