Broken tooth.

[KayeM]

Hey everyone.
I have two GPs called Pepper and Ziggy I've had them for most of this year.
I check their teeth regularly, maybe once or twice a week, and today I noticed that one of Ziggy's top teeth has broken off. There is only a little bit of it left, but its a straight break.
I'm not sure if she is going to have trouble eating, but she is the Matriarch of the two so she always makes sure she is first in.

Basically, what I want to know is, how can I possibly find out the cause of the broken tooth?, and is anything I need to do about the tooth itself, as I know they grow back..

Also, my other piggie Pepper has always been very nervous since I got her. She always squeaks quietly continuously when I take her out. I've tried many different techniques of handling her to see if she has a preference, but her behaviour never changes..
Ziggy doesn't have a problem with human interaction.

Is this strange?

[Jennicat]

It's unlikely you'll ever figure out what exactly caused the broken tooth... she could have run into the side of the cage by accident, chewed on the bars and snapped it, etc. Make sure she's getting plenty of vitamin C from fresh veggies as lack of vitamin C can make the teeth weaker, but it's still not unusual for even a pig on an optimal diet to occasionally break a tooth.

You may need to shred her vegetables very finely for a few days until she can start ripping them up again (or she may be fine -- it varies from pig to pig). Keep an eye on the tooth as it grows back to make sure it's coming back straight and not veering into the other teeth or infected or anything. It should be completely back in roughly 2 weeks.

[KayeM]

Thanks for the information Jennicat!

[Jennicat]

How's Mr. Snaggletooth doing?

[KayeM]

Well, her other tooth snapped back a little because of the pressure because it was very long compared with the tooth beside it. I had been trying to feed her softer foods and chopping up the veggies to smaller and easier to eat portions to ease the pressure on that tooth.

From observations it looks as though they're growing, but I'm wondering what the best foods/tactics are to encourage the bottom teeth to grind down a little?
I've noticed my other piggie has long-ish bottom teeth compared to her top chompers as well..

[Kendalle]

i thought that both bottom and top are continuously growing and they need them the same so they can grind them back and be able to chew, and they need to be filed back....

It may be wise to call a vet to make sure they don't need to be filed down

[Jennicat]

Bottom and top are both continuously growing, but if the pig is still eating and the top is growing back in, the minimal overgrowth during recovery typically corrects itself as long as the molars are in alignment.

[KayeM]

Well, all teeth are still aligned properly
So thats a good thing!