The Puffer Forum

My fahaka is loosing a tooth. I noticed it today, the gum one that side is swollen and "defect", and the tooth is very loose and has a serious build-up of plaque and it feels like I'm not far from able to pull it out completely, it's only attached to some soft tissue at one side. Other than this, the puffer is fine and healty.

The tooth is definitly beyond healing i guess. Do you think it might grow back if I remove it and the gum heals? If not, do you think it could have a appy life with only tree teeths?

Oooh, I don't know but wanted to say I hope it all turns out okay!

That is odd.. You'll probably just have to wait and see if it grows back or not, and you'll probably have some extra dental work in your future, as the other teeth will wear crooked without that one there to keep things even.

That's usually what happens when a puffer breaks a tooth off.. watch the base for any infection, and hopefully it will grow back so the special dentistry isn't a lifetime need.

I don't see why it shouldn't grow back, unless the "bed" where the tooth sits has been damaged. Occasionally we have to remove the incisor teeth of rabbits because they become overgrown due to misalignment - we try to damage the gum to prevent further growth, but sometimes it still grows back. Just thought I would mention it cos rabbits also have continually growing teeth, as puffers do!!

Thanks for you concern. I'ts become looser and looser, and when I examined him today I saw that there was only a tiny tiny pice of healthy flesh holding it in relative place, so I cut it loose.

This is the tooth, Does not look healthy. I'm expecting the worst, but hoping for it to grow back out again, even if I really can't see how that would be possible...
But my knowledge of the biology behind continious growing teeth is quite limited...

That looks nasty. I would think the gum has been damaged. How is the space where the tooth was? - is it red & sore or clean looking? Hope he's ok.

All that flesh came out with the tooth? How'd you get that out? I think there has to be something worse going on there than a loose tooth.

Thats actually not flesh, it's solid. The only soft tissue you see is the little red part whith the white bit attached to it. It wasn't hard to get it out, the fahaka is really cool and lets me handle him without much fuss.

The gum where the tooth was actually looked quite fine. I didn't get a really good look at it, but what I saw was white and smooth. I'll maybe check again in a couple of days.

Anyway, it feels good to have the tooth out.

IDK, I'm not fish dentist but something looks wrong there. Are you adding Melafix to his tank?

Wow you must have a really strong bond of trust with your fahaka for it to allow you to handle it like that! Thats awesome but sorry for you both having to go through that process.

It looks like flesh to me, too. Maybe he has gum disease and this is the result. Never seen a tooth with flesh still attached like that.

I can promise you, it's not flesh. It's completely solid and feels just like bone. I know it looks like bad flesh, but it's not.

I've been thinking it might be some kind of virus or fungus infection causing the tooth to grow abnormally, just like when you get warts, but I just dont know.

I'm not adding any medications since he is othervise healthy and does not seem to have ay remaining problems with the area around the tooth. I´ll just wait and see what happends.

Wow you must have a really strong bond of trust with your fahaka for it to allow you to handle it like that!

Yeah, I'm quite amazed about him letting me hold him and jiggle his loose tooth around without much protests. He almost seems to know that I'm trying to help him... He's almost like a puppy.

So he has no upper plate? How is he eating?

Upper plate? Not shure what that means, but he is missing his upper left tooth. And he has a good appetite and has no problems with the eating.