White tooth in a 2+ year old male; no break

[eleda]

I wanted to make a new topic for this since I couldn't find anything about white teeth on the forum that would actually be helpful.

Data is over 2 years old, I don't think he's quite to 2.5 yet. He has been having teeth issues since last December. At one point his top left tooth fell out. It grew back, but it has never regained a healthy appearance. It is the same length and shape as the healthy tooth next to it and does not look broken. He has also had a bottom tooth fall out and grow back, but that one grew back looking orange and strong.

He eats a table spoon of Ecotrition seed mix every day, plus 4-6 sunflower seeds. He has no trouble eating and weighs over 100 grams (i think he was 104 last time I weighed him.) His energy is good and he's very active though he doesn't appear able to chew on cardboard.

Here is the Ecotrition's Nutrition Info

Guaranteed Analysis
(Minimum values unless otherwise stated)

Crude Protein	16.0%	Phosphorous	0.30%
Crude Fat	7.0%	Potassium	0.40%
Crude Fiber	10.0% max	Salt	0.05% min
Moisture	12.0% max	Salt	0.55% max
Alanine	0.65%	Magnesium	25 mg/kg
Argnine	0.70%	Iron	105 mg/kg
Aspartic Acid	1.00%	Zinc	25 mg/kg
Cystine	0.20%	Copper	5 mg/kg
Glycine	0.40%	Iodine	0.1 mg/kg
Glutamic Acid	2.00%	Vitamin A	3000 IU(kg)
Histidine	0.20%	Vitamin D3	1000 IU/kg
Isoleucine	0.40%	Vitamin E	20 IU/kg
Leucine	1.00%	Menadione	0.1 mg/kg
Methionine	0.15%	Thiamine	4.0 mg/kg
Phenylalanine	0.50%	Riboflavin	2.5 mg/kg
Proline	0.45%	Vitamin B6	3.5 mg/kg
Serine	0.45%	Niacin	30.0 mg/kg
Threonine	0.35%	d-Pantothenic Acid	9.0 mg/kg
Tryptophan	0.10%	Choline	750.0 mg/kg
Tyrosine	0.35%	Folic Acid	0.4 mg/kg
Valine	0.50%	Biotin	0.1 mg/kg
Calcium	0.02% min	Vitamin B12	3.0 mg/kg
Calcium	0.52% max

what can i do about this tooth?

[xxxamybxxx]

I would like to know about this too! i had a similar problem with one of my old dwarf hamsters, the tooth was pure white instead of the yellowish enamel look of there healthy teeth and didnt wear down at all so i had to keep clipping it.

I tried asking the vet about it but she didnt seem to have a clue what i was on about!

The only thing i can think it could be is some form of calcium deficiency but i dont see why that would only effect one tooth

Amy

[eleda]

Does anyone know anything? it's possible I'll need to clip his top teeth at some point. what kind of effect might that have with this white tooth?

[betty]

I don't know anything about white teeth actually - but I will see if I can find out anything myself....

[betty]

Found this:

"The color of the incisor enamel is due to the presence of an iron-containing pigment, and the shade of orange deepens with age starting about 21 days after birth."

Interesting - I will find more...

[betty]

Found this too - although not such good news if true for Gerbils (this was on a rat forum):

"Anemia in rats is most often caused by kidney failure. The kidneys produce erythropoietin, the hormone responsible for red blood cell production. When kidneys become diseased they fail to produce the hormone in large enough quantities and so the body doesn't produce red blood cells.

The enamel in rats teeth is given it's distinctive orange colour by the presence of iron compounds in it. The iron gets there via the bloodstream, contained in the red blood cells.

So kidney failure = not enough red blood cells = not enough free iron to form enamel = white teeth."


It will certainly make them weaker though...

[eleda]

oh! thats good to know. I wonder if kidney disease could effect just one tooth at a time. thanks for digging into this!

[betty]

Some articles said it could be a blip and the colour can eventually grow back, I suppose they were thinking of it as a white mark on a finger nail growing out from the cuticle to the end. Which is possible if only the root of that tooth was affected temporarily.

It may be that it was only one tooth as the cells producing that tooth were affected more than the other teeth. Not sure how it all works in there if it was systemic, unless there was already something wrong with that tooths biology so it was affected first?

Perhaps I need to do more reading...

[eleda]

his other top tooth has started turning white as well. I think his kidneys probably are going bad, but i expected his organs to start failing pretty soon given his age. still, he seems active and happy enough which is what is important =)