Howdy y'all!  We hope everyone is doin' fine these days.  In reference to
'dirty' teeth.  You can by a set of human dental tools from your local
pharmacy or grocery store.  Mine came with a mirror thingy and the tooth
scaler (pointy thingy).  It takes some practice but I can clean the
furkids' teeth (outside only) fairly easily now.  I only do it when they
are in the "coma" sleep otherwise I'd poke the heck out of them.  Some
may not like the fact that you can hurt them with the pointy end but if
you are VERY careful this isn't a problem.  You may want to practice on
yourself first and disinfect the instrument often.  Also, you can place
your finger in the way so you get poked and not your fert.  I haven't
mastered the cleaning of the inside-side of the teeth yet and will probably
leave this to my vet since the inside part isn't as 'dirty' as the outside
parts of the teeth due to eating kibble.
 
There are 2 methods I've found to get the tartar off.  First, pick a spot
on the tooth and gently start scraping away from the gum line, say at the
center of the tartar patch.  Eventually pieces will come off and then
larger pieces will come off.  Secondly, if you are brave you can position
the scaler just above where the tartar starts, right next to the gum line
and scrape down and away from the gum line.  This is sometimes more
difficult since you can accidentally knick their gums especially if they
sneeze or something.
 
I've accidentally knicked them before and nothing bad happened but I'm
sure if you're using a dirty instrument or something they could get an
infection.  Since the mouth is one of the fastest healing parts of the body
and vets have probably knicked a few ferrets in their day I just take a
look at the area to make sure everything is okay.  Usually my vet will
just have the assistant scruff the ferret while he does a quick scrape.
 
Of course the 'easiest' way to fix this is to brush their teeth often to
prevent tartar build up but my guys will have nothing to do with the teeth
brushing thing.  They do think that human toes, the backs of knees and
raisins are the best toothbrushes but for some reason I disagree.  But I
digest and wait to see if Bob C. has a naturalist solution.  Chicken bones
maybe?
 
Laura
[Posted in FML issue 2982]