Chinchilla Dental Exam

[Aridan]

I came across this on YouTube, and I found it very interesting as I've imagined what it must be like for vets to try to examine chin teeth, and this allowed me to visualize it. It is a little graphic for those who like me may be a bit squeamish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pvlqxU3HJ8

 

[ticklechin]

The vet should not snip molars, a high speed dental hand piece is used by actual vet dentists. Snipping can cause fractures or even shatter the teeth and frankly even when the point is removed it will still dig into the tongue without being smoothed by the hand piece.

 

[DaddyslilDimwit]

I enjoyed watching that. Thank you for posting.

 

[Aridan]

Yes, it did look pretty scary. I was wondering how they keep parts of the tooth from going down the chin's throat when it's snipped.

 

[threewingedfury]

I agree with Dawn on this one. This is the closest exotic vet I have to me and I personally will not use them as I have done nothing but argue with them in the past over treatment for chinchillas. Exotic vet or not, I don't believe they really know what they're doing with chinchillas. I was pretty much told by them that because I did not provide fruits and vegetables, my chinchillas would not live healthy lives. At that point, I stopped going to this vet.

 

[Aridan]

Hey, I understand the controversy over exotic vets and their knowledge. Posting this was not an endorsement, merely sharing what I thought was an interesting video on how the teeth are checked for those, like me, who've never seen it done. I supposed it can also be a cautionary tale on exotic vets who trim teeth when they should file.

 

[Claire D]

Burring issues aside (and I totally agree with Dawn) it is interesting for people to see how a dental exam is done under anaesthetic - I think it should give owners pause to consider just how sore a chin's mouth will be after having it forced open with a gag and instruments shoved in for burring/filing or just examining (all of which is necessary to do the job) - its not a gentle procedure and any chin needs pain relief after a dental exam, whether burring was done or not.

I also disagree that at 11 years old a chin's tooth issues are not necessarily genetic!

 

[Aridan]

Yes, it does give us something to think about, Claire. I was surprised at how sweet that chin was after all of that, when he must have still been in considerable pain from what was done. Good point.