Guinea Pig Teeth Anatomy

They have an elodont dentition which consists of aradicular hypsodont incisors and cheek teeth.

Guinea pig teeth anatomy. They sit far back in your guinea pigs mouth which is often full of food making checking difficult. Guinea pigs have continually growing and erupting teeth. In the guinea pig the growth rate of these aradicular hypsodont teeth may not be equal with the eruption rate. Two pairs of upper and lower incisors in the front are sharp and easy to see.

Guinea pigs don t have canines but it is normal for them to have a gap between two front teeth called diastema. Understandably they are a lot harder to examine. A guinea pig is a small burrowing rodent that has a compact body. Guinea pigs have 20 teeth in their mouths which consist of.

The teeth are open rooted and grow continuously throughout guinea pig s life. Because these teeth are continuously growing it is very important that guinea pigs have something to gnaw on to help keep the teeth trim. Trimming this tooth to the same length as the tooth beside it will only delay the teeth meeting. 6 upper and 6 lower molars.

Guinea pigs have small ears and eyes a small snout with sensory whiskers each side and no tail. At that time the top incisors were even in length. Pinta s guinea pig pictured below broke a tooth to the gum line may 5 or 6. The sharp incisors at the front of the mouth are used for cutting food whilst the premolars and molars do all the grinding and chewing.

Your guinea pigs back teeth are also known as cheek teeth. How to check guinea pig teeth. If you see your guinea pig chattering its teeth check to see if its molars have gotten too big and pointy. A guinea pig has two teeth at the top and two at the bottom of their mouths called incisors.

The first picture shows how the unopposed upper tooth grows down to meet the broken tooth. Like most rodents they have two gnawing teeth at the front which continue to grow throughout their life. 2 upper and 2 lower incisors. Buccal pad separators are designed to hold the cheeks back aiding examination.

If all is well and your guinea pig is eating normally these front teeth should meet evenly which means the teeth are being naturally worn down every time your pet eats. The enamel of healthy teeth is white in color. The severity of malocclusion of the cheek teeth may not be as. This dynamic changing relationship between the upper and lower teeth can result in malocclusion development.

They are usually anything from 1cm to 1 cm long much longer than you might think. Fat pads in the cheeks make examination of the molars difficult. The enamel is white in color and the front teeth can be sharp. Sometimes in order to combat the overgrown pointed teeth that are growing in its mouth your guinea pig may start to chatter or grind its teeth to try and wear down the teeth this way.

When it comes to your guinea pig s molars it is best to let the vet handle any examination unless something is glaringly obvious. This results in greater curvature of the cheek teeth.