That gingivitis rate stuff is per ferret-year, which seemed the best
approach not knowing ages of the individuals usually.  Still it came out
for about 1 in 500 for gingivitis per ferret-year, and about 1 in 5,000
for gingivitis with secondary health problems per ferret-year even when
trying to allow for worst case interpretations.
 
Again, certainly, not scientific by any means, but it does make a person
step back and think about how effective care has become as people have
learned more, and how many ways there are to avoid gum problems.
 
Hey, Hubble just tried a crunchy so hopefully we will be lucky with his
mouth injury.
 
I have never seen any ferret do that before.  His jaws were open wide
with that drain cover just wedge on there.  All it took him was the
short while when I was warming the water to take a shower.  Ferrets!
 
Oh, well, at least he got me looking stuff up which brought the question
about rates to my mind, and that may in turn get across that often (but
likely not always) the problem of gingivitis is avoidable.
 
Also, I read on some periodontal sites that there can be genetic
components in some humans who get it, so perhaps that is also true
for some ferrets:
http://www.perio.org/consumer/gingivitis.htm
http://www.perio.org/consumer/2a.html
 
Advanced age is also among the things which can be involved in humans
which may be a consideration for causing gingivitis in ferrets as well,
ditto other infections, some heart meds, and more.
 
Anyway, it is late and I am tired, but maybe something in here is worth
people thinking about or keeping in mind when frequent mentions make a
given problem appear more common than it actually seems to be.
 
-- Sukie (not a vet, and not speaking for any of the below in my
private posts)
Recommended health resources to help ferrets and the people who love
them:
Ferret Health List
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
FHL Archives
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
AFIP Ferret Pathology
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
Miamiferrets
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
International Ferret Congress Critical References
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 5208]