Producers often clip these teeth to the gum line soon after birth. Clipping the teeth helps reduce facial injuries to piglets and is thought to reduce damage to the sow's udder.
Producers have at least three alternatives to clipping teeth to the gum line.
One is to leave the teeth intact. Two recent studies involving piglets with intact teeth found little if any observable damage to the sow's udder, but piglets did receive facial injuries. However, a different study suggested that the direct and indirect damage caused by clipping may actually exceed the effects of injuries caused by leaving teeth intact. A second option is to remove the tips of the teeth with a special grinding tool. A third option is to clip only the tip of the tooth.