Rabbit dental chart: Free template and how to fill it in

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Key takeaways

A rabbit dental chart records every tooth against a fixed baseline, then dates each finding so change is visible over time.

Rabbits have 28 continuously erupting (elodont) teeth: 2(I 2/1, C 0/0, P 3/2, M 3/3) = 28.

The second pair of upper incisors, the peg teeth, sit behind the first pair and are a lagomorph feature.

Malocclusion is the most common rabbit dental disease, and radiography is what confirms cheek teeth spurs and root elongation.

The downloadable chart is two blank tables: a reference-values log per tooth or quadrant, and a dated recording log.

A rabbit dental chart is a structured record of every tooth in a rabbit’s mouth. You measure each one against a baseline you set, and date every entry.

Rabbits carry 28 teeth and all of them keep erupting for life. A finding that looked unremarkable in March can be a painful cheek teeth spur by June. Making that change visible is the whole job of the chart.

The template on this page is deliberately plain. You get a reference-values table, where you set what normal looks like for each tooth or quadrant. A recording log follows it, for every dated finding after that. It contains no tooth diagram and no printed checklist, which is worth knowing before you download it.

This guide covers rabbit dental anatomy, the diseases the chart is built to catch, how the examination runs, and how to fill in both tables.

Rabbit dental formula and tooth anatomy

The rabbit dental formula is 2(I 2/1, C 0/0, P 3/2, M 3/3) = 28 total teeth. Rodents have one pair of upper incisors. Rabbits have two. The second pair, called peg teeth, sits directly behind the first and is a defining lagomorph feature.

Counting both sides, that is 16 teeth in the upper arcades and 12 in the lower, or 28 in total. All 28 are hypsodont (high-crowned) and elodont, so they erupt throughout life. The premolars and molars are handled together as the cheek teeth, and they have no true roots.

That anatomy is why a single-visit note is not enough. Normal wear and abnormal overgrowth look similar at one appointment, and only differ across a run of dated entries.

Common dental diseases and the examination sequence

Malocclusion — misalignment of the incisors or cheek teeth — is the most common dental problem in rabbits. It happens when continuous eruption is not matched by normal wear, which leads to overgrowth, sharp spurs, and pain. Work through the examination in the same order every time:

1. Incisor assessment: Check alignment, color (normal white to cream), surface texture, and any overgrowth or fracture. Note the malocclusion angle if there is one.
2. Peg teeth check: Confirm the second upper incisors are present and not impacted. Absence or enlargement of a peg tooth is abnormal.
3. Cheek teeth palpation: Feel along the jaw line externally for spurs, asymmetry, or swelling. Follow with gentle intraoral palpation to assess molar occlusion.
4. Jaw symmetry: Compare the left and right sides. Asymmetry points to unilateral disease or spur formation.
5. Clinical signs: Record drooling, reduced appetite, weight loss, bruxism (teeth grinding), facial swelling, or a wet dewlap.

Each of those five steps becomes a row in the chart. Without dated rows you cannot tell whether malocclusion is stable, worsening, or responding to treatment.

Radiographic assessment in rabbit dentistry

Clinical examination alone will not diagnose cheek teeth malocclusion, spurs, or root elongation. According to Today’s Veterinary Nurse, radiography is essential for a complete assessment.

Intraoral and skull radiographs show crown height, root length, and alignment. They also reveal spurs sitting below the gum line, which palpation misses. The chart has no dedicated radiography section, so log those findings as their own rows and file the images alongside the completed pages.

Treatment options and documentation

Treatment depends on the disease type, its severity, and the rabbit’s age. Record the condition, what you did about it, and when the animal comes back:

Every treatment earns a dated row: what was done, the anesthetic agent and duration, the outcome, and the next review date. That row is what protects you if the case is questioned a year later.

Why diet is the cornerstone of prevention

Genetics drive a good share of malocclusion risk, but diet is the factor an owner can change. A diet built on 80% or more timothy, orchard, or meadow hay gives the abrasive action that keeps tooth wear in step with eruption.

Record the prevention conversation as well as the findings. Note hay intake, the barriers the owner raised, and the advice you gave. A rabbit with a malocclusion history needs a named recall date, not an open invitation to come back.

How to fill in the chart’s two tables

The file is two blank tables, so its value comes from what you decide to put in them. Here is what each page holds before you write anything on it.

1. Set the reference values before the appointment: Page one has 14 rows. Use them to state what normal looks like for each tooth or quadrant you check, one row at a time.
2. Name the tooth or quadrant the same way every time: The column is free text, so agree on one convention. “Upper right cheek teeth” and “URPM1” cannot both live in the same record.
3. Fill the source and date checked column: It exists so a reference value is traceable. Name the protocol or reference you took the range from, and the date you last confirmed it.
4. Sign page one off: The approved by and date approved fields at the foot fix one version for the whole team.
5. Log each examination on page two: Date, time, tooth or quadrant, finding, and who recorded it. One row per finding beats one row per visit.
6. Use the notes box for what the columns cannot hold: Anesthetic agent and duration, the owner conversation, and the agreed recall date.
7. Add what the file leaves out: There is no arcade diagram and no radiography section. Attach your own sketch and the radiograph report to the completed pages.

Print one chart per rabbit and keep it in the animal’s file, or scan the completed pages into whichever record system your practice already runs. Either way, the reference-values page only needs writing once, then it governs every recording row after it.

Three habits that keep the chart readable

Standardize the notation. Agree with the team on a fixed vocabulary, such as “normal”, “spur, left PM1”, or “extracted, upper M1”. Consistency is what makes a chart readable across clinicians and across years.

Show the owner the log. Two dated rows six weeks apart explain progression better than any description. Read the findings out in plain language and mark the diet or husbandry change you agreed on.

Write the recall date into the row. “Return in eight weeks” is a plan. “Monitor” is not. The recall interval belongs in the notes box while the animal is still on the table.

How Pabau structures clinical charting in human healthcare practices

Pabau publishes this chart as a free reference file, and the scope is worth stating plainly. Pabau is practice management software for human healthcare practices, from medical aesthetics and dermatology to wellness and private practice. There is no veterinary product, so a rabbit chart stays on paper or in whichever system your veterinary team already runs.

If you treat human patients, the charting problem this file solves by hand is the one Pabau solves in software. A blank table depends on someone remembering to file it. Pabau’s patient intake software saves the assessment straight to the client record, next to the appointment that produced it.

From there the findings are searchable rather than filed. Photos attach to the same record, and clinical records stay with the treatment history. Recall reminders send themselves on the interval you set. Every subscription includes all of it, with no add-ons to buy later.

Human dental practices keep the same tooth-by-tooth record on a perio chart form, dated the same way. The principle carries across species. You fix a baseline once, then add a dated row for every finding you measure against it.

Turn paper assessment forms into structured records

Pabau builds your assessment fields into the client record, so findings, photos and recall dates sit with the appointment. Built for human healthcare practices, from aesthetics to private practice.

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Conclusion

Rabbit dental disease is manageable when it is caught early, and catching it early is a record-keeping problem as much as a clinical one. Continuous eruption means the only reliable evidence of trouble is the difference between two dated entries.

So spend the effort where it pays. Write the reference-values page once, agree the notation with your team, and log every finding with a date and a name against it. The download above gives you the two tables to do that in; the discipline is yours to supply.

If your practice treats human patients rather than animals, the same discipline can run in software instead. Book a demo to see how Pabau keeps assessment forms, findings and recall dates in one client record.

Continue your research

Charting teeth in a human dental practice? The perio chart form template gives you the same dated, tooth-by-tooth record for periodontal findings.

Need a structured oral exam form? The dental examination form sets out the fields a full mouth assessment should capture.

Need a quick reference for structuring any clinical entry? The nurse charting cheat sheet covers what belongs in a dated note and what does not.

Want a charting format that holds up on review? SOAP charting explains how to structure findings so another clinician can follow them.

Frequently asked questions