Vet broke Rats tooth

[Smythius]

I brought my rat in to the vet to have her teeth inspected because she was having some issues, wasn’t informed that there was anything wrong at any point with her teeth and a few days after getting her teeth “fixed” she’s now missing a tooth completely!

I took my pet rat Notorious DOT in to have her teeth filed because the top teeth were uneven and it looked like the top left one had cracked and the vet trimmed them instead. I noticed a week later her bottom teeth were already off by two milimeters and the top teeth were still just as bad as before and called the vet out saying I dont think they were filed. The office informed me the teeth had been trimmed, not filed. (Not what I had asked for as I read trimming can cause damage and a tooth to crack or shatter and I was concerned in the first place about the tooth already being cracked so I wanted it filed, and it didn’t look like the top had been addressed at all to me as it still looked like one was cracked off and half as long) so I complained I took her back in and the vet sedated her to actually file them. I took her home and inspected her a day later when the anesthesia had worn off and it looked to me like the tooth was now completely gone with a black hole in the gum where a tooth should be. I called the vet who said nothing about her tooth looking damaged, or a missing tooth. I brought her back in and the vet sedated her again, filed her teeth, again, and said her tooth had completely rotted out at the base! This is all within weeks of the initial trim. He said she must have done something to it in the following days after the visit... while she was inactive and sedated. I don’t believe that. I’m wondering how my rats tooth could have completely rotted out in a week and the vet not have noticed when sedated the first time that there was an issue with the tooth? Could the vet have cracked the tooth during the initial trim and caused the tooth damage? She now only has one top tooth and her bottom grow so quickly they need trimming bi-weekly. I feel the vet is responsible for her tooth missing now and am not sure what to do?

 

[lilspaz68]

when there is infection in the socket of the tooth, these things do happen and it likely caused the initial malocclusion. The filing you are talking about you mean like a dremel that grinds down the tooth? that is the best method versus clipping but some vets might not have the equipment to dremel or grind down teeth. The only thing that I think the vet missed is the tooth root infection and the tooth possibly being loose.
Is she on antibiotics right now? She will need that to cure the infection and now you watch to see if the tooth regrows (the tooth bud was intact) or not. Either way it looks like you will have to have her teeth trimmed every 3-5 weeks (depending on the growth and alignment) until either the original tooth grows back into place or for the rest of her life. How old is she?

 

[Smythius]

She's about 18months. I believe the tooth is damaged at the root and won't grow back now. My concern is that the vet never said anything about her teeth looking bad when the reason I brought her to the vet was for teeth issues. And that a few days after them being clipped she now has NO tooth and the vet was completely unaware there was any issue. I feel like the vet may have caused the tooth to fall out by using the clippers and cracking or shattering the tooth... now because of it I will be responsible for the cost of monthly teeth filing. I'm not comfortable getting them clipped and it's expensive and non practical to have my rat going in every couple weeks for anesthetic to have them filed now because there is no tooth to wear. I'd like to hold the vet responsible for my rat having no tooth now but wanted some other opinions if he should be to blame or not for completely missing this issue the first three times she went in! Seems to me if it wasn't noticed all those times then it must have started after, or was caused at her visit, leading me to hold them responsible.

Ive spent over $300 now and her teeth arent any better... in fact she is now in a worse predicament!

 

[lilspaz68]

Unfortunately malloclusion is something that can happen. A fall can shift the teeth, infection in the tooth root can cause the teeth to loosen then move causing malocclusion where the teeth can fall out. In this case I don't think its your vets fault at all except not noticing/mentioning the teeth were loose. An infection like that was probably brewing a long long time.

 

[Smythius]

If a rat was brought in with teeth concerns. Isn’t that something a trained professional should have noticed the first visit... or the second, or the third after I have already brought to their attention it was possibly cracked! Logic would be to inspect the teeth and I was told numerous times there was no issue. A week later my rat had no tooth. So i’m led to believe my rat had no issue before hand and immediately after she is now missing both a tooth and a toenail. Neither are growing back.

 

[Smythius]

It also bothers me if it were in fact due to some sort of infection why she wasn't put on any antibiotics? If there was an infection serious enough to make her tooth rot out shouldn't she be on medicine to ensure it doesn't spread?