From:
dr_bruce_williams
Date: 2002-01-13 23:54:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Question about tooth care (with pic link)
Dear Matt:
You are correct in that there is no periodontal disease at this
point - the gumline looks healthy and not inflamed. This is not to
say that there is no tartar up under there,as there probably is, but
right now, it looks as if there is no gum disease, and likely no bone
disease, etc. But keep a close eye on it.
This is not to say that it is perfectly all right for this amount of
calculus to build up. The calculus is a nidus for further
development - any time the tooth is rough, it is more likely that
calculus will accumulate. This is why they polish your teeth after
they scrape them at the dentists -
But this is fairly normal for a 2 year old - especially a rescue.
Thanks for putting the picture in the public domain. It is a welcome
addition to my teaching files, and I will be adding it (of course
with your credit line) to my web site shortly (I've been wanting to
add something on dental disease for a while, and I think this week is
the week. It's a great pic, and I look forward to your next
contribution.....
All the best,
Bruce Williams, dVM
(who just tries to maintain....)
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., Matt Staroscik <mstar@s...> wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I would like to know if this amount of tooth gunk is normal for a 2
yo sprite.
>
> http://washingtonferret.org/pics/ferret_tooth_tartar.jpg (80k)
>
> (The unhappy subject is Cracker, my second rescued ferret.)
>
> I had asked this once before but the photos I had were pretty
crummy... The
> new pic is 10x better. Folks who saw the first pics told me that
they
> normal. I hope that under better lighting the answer remains the
same. :) I
> am hopeful that all is well because the gumline looks healthy to my
> layman's eye.
>
> Dr. Williams, you had asked if you could use those first pics I
took and I
> promised you better ones -- sorry for the delay, but here is one.
Use it
> however you like, I release it for the greater good of all
ferretkind. (I
> will leave it at this location if you want to link to it, or you
can copy
> it.) If you would like me to try for another photo just ask.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Matt
> (the guy who maintains the washingtonferret.org web site)
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=
> Matt Staroscik * KF6IYW * mstar@s... *