Dental disease is the most common health problem in domestic rabbits. Understanding the causes and prevention of malocclusion and acquired dental disease significantly improves rabbit welfare.
Rabbits with dental disease experience pain with every bite — an animal that must constantly graze cannot avoid interacting with the source of their pain. Reduced food intake leads to gastrointestinal stasis, a potentially fatal secondary complication. Weight loss, reduced activity, and behavioral changes often precede visible signs of dental disease, meaning pain is frequently endured for extended periods before diagnosis. The largely preventable nature of acquired dental disease — through appropriate hay-based diet — makes each case a welfare failure that correct husbandry information could have prevented. Dwarf and lop breeds require particularly proactive dental monitoring given their structural predisposition.