Best tool for cutting or trimming overgrown teeth from malocclusion?

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fallblossom

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2013
Messages
175
Location
North America
I've been Googing and oogling tools. The list below is what I've seen either suggested or used in videos. However, which are the best for preventing splitting of the tooth and damage?

- human nail clippers
- bird/cat nail clippers
- cat/dog guillotine nail cutters (my vet used these and nipped one of my rat's lips and he bled)
- rabbit molar/incisor cutter
- bone rongeurs (teeth are bone aren't they?)
- side wire cutters
- molar cutters forceps (the blades on these don't meet the same way and have ridges on the cutting surface)
- dremel (most of us don't have isoflurane to knock our rats out to use this tool)

Apparently, teeth can't be 'cut' but rather 'snap off' and it's best to cut the teeth individually to prevent shattering/damage. Which tool is best for this purpose? The molar cutters forceps look promising. There are more tools for trimming teeth back, but the list is long enough.

In regards to cutting the teeth, it was suggested to cut the teeth sideways because rat teeth are wider from front-to-back then they are from side-to-side.

Below is a picture of the ridged cutters and another type of tool I don't know the name of pictured with the rat who has a piece of wood in his/her mouth to prevent cutting tissue:
 
We need to be very careful when cutting teeth. It's easy to twist and snap off a root which then results in extreme trauma, bleeding and possible death.
 
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