Dental disease prevalent in hedgehogs, data reveals

Dental disease may be widespread among wild western European hedgehogs, data from an animal rehabilitation centre suggests.  

Almost half of hedgehogs admitted to the shelter in Germany over a period of eight months were found to have signs of dental disease. 

Disease prevalence, assessed using a newly devised scoring system, is much higher than indicated by previous studies, researchers say.  

This may be attributable to dental exams being carried out thoroughly under anaesthetic, or may hint of an increase of disease abundance during the past decades, researchers suggest.

Scientists studied 95 western European hedgehogs, a near-threatened species, which were admitted to the Bremer Tierschutzverein, an urban animal shelter in north-western Germany. 

Each animal was given a veterinary exam, including a dental assessment, under anaesthesia. 

The animals were each given scores from 0 to 3 for tartar, gum inflammation, gum recession, and loose teeth. The newly devised scoring system was equally weighted to allow an easy, comparable way to describe the severity of dental disease in hedgehogs under anaesthesia. 

Statistical analysis showed that some 44 per cent of hedgehogs had dental disease, with low disease severity the most common assessment, and tartar the most common problem.

Higher body weight was associated with dental disease, suggesting wild hedgehogs might be eating man-made food more often than previously.  

Foods which are higher in sugar, lower in minerals, and softer, taking less time to chew, compared with hedgehogs’ regular diet of mainly insects, may be impacting on their dental health. 

The study was published in Veterinary Research Communications.