Rat cavities

[turbosquabbit]

Should you worry about your rat having cavities if she's not showing signs of pain and the vet hasn't said anything? Is there a way to get around the squiggling to look back there? What does a rat cavity look like, anyway? Besides avoiding sugary foods, is there anything you can do to prevent them? (Chewing things might help, I think.) Is there anything a vet can do, besides pull any badly damaged, painful teeth? (I know cavities probably wouldn't matter on the incisors, but I'm worried about the molars.)

A class I'm in is talking about a study on artificial selection of rats in order to get more dental carie resistant rats. It doesn't go into the exact diet they were feeding them, except about it being "controlled", but the original carie rates are awfully high.

Edit: This is taken from a tiny graph, but the longest a "susceptible (to caries)" rat went before their first cavity was 70 days. In the first generation of "resistant" rats, the rats only went about 105 days before their first carie. Looking at the chart, I'm guessing that would put the pet population as getting cavities mostly within 25 to 150 days after birth.

Another edit: On the bright side, after 60 generations of breeding for carie resistant rats, rats went closer to 600 days before their first cavity.

[scout]

I think you probably know more than any of us do about cavities now! I think I had a rat with a cavity - he developed an infection in his jaw that no antibiotic could penetrate. The vet suspected it was a tooth, but she couldn't do any surgery for it.  She tried to use a q-tip to hold open his mouth to see inside, but that didn't last long enough to get a good look. I haven't heard of many vets that are willing to try to pull a molar. Since that experience (I had to have him pts), I have steadfastly avoided giving my rats any sugary treats (like yogies or chocolate chips) and have discouraged anyone else from doing it either. My guys got just as excited about low sugar cereal (cheaper than yogies, too), so I used that for a treat.

I'll be interested to see what information and experiences others have had.

[turbosquabbit]

Awwl, poor guy. I didn't think of what would happen if vets couldn't actually pull a badly decayed tooth. It's a shame that what's essentially a small problem can be that bad.

[jeepharm]

Wow!  That's a really interesting study!  I read on the Rat Guide that prognosis for tooth abcesses/infections in NOT good.  Just as scout posted~antibiotics 'can't touch this'.

I'm sorry I have nothing to add~it's just so interesting and I'm going to pass your 'notes' along to my friend (and President of our rescue) who has over 35 years of vet tech exp and over 30+ years of rat owning exp.  I know she'll enjoy reading your info.

Thanks!!

Ann & my gorgeous boys Nobel, Figlewitz, Ridley, D'Marco, Gino & Nunzio!
Enjoy the yogie bar Efram!
Co-founding Partner/Secretary
Pittsburgh Rat Lovers Club & Rescue