Why should I be concerned about dental problems?
What are the main dental problems?
What are the signs?
What is the treatment?
How do I prevent dental problems?
Are there any other dental conditions?

Why should I be concerned about dental problems?

Dental problems and dental disease are the commonest cause of ill health in our pet cats, dogs and rabbits. 80% of our pets have significant dental disease by three years of age.

What are the main dental problems?

Gingivitis and Periodontal Disease:

• Gingivitis is caused by plaque accumulation under the gums.
• The plaque encourages proliferation of bacteria resulting in inflammation of the gums (gingivitis) and damage to the structures supporting the teeth.
• This damage can be reversed with appropriate treatment, however without treatment, infection and inflammation progresses down the tooth root resulting in periodontal disease, which is irreversible and cannot be cured.

Periodontal disease causes:

• Pain.
• Damage to the jaw bone.
• Bacteria and toxins to be absorbed into the blood stream. These damage internal organs causing significant ill health, including chronic kidney disease in older pet cats and dogs.
• Loss of teeth.

What are the signs?

• Redness of the gums.
• Build up of dental tartar (a yellow/grey hard deposit on the tooth).
• Gum recession.
• Smelly breath.
• Eating awkwardly, perhaps favoring one side of their mouth. Our pets rarely give any indication of tooth ache, yet they are often in chronic and significant pain.

What is the treatment?

Treatment usually requires a general anaesthetic, then removal of the tartar and plaque by ultrasonic descaling and polishing. If periodontal disease has become advanced, the kindest action is to extract the affected tooth. A course of antibiotics and painkillers is usually required.

How do I prevent dental problems?

• Feeding a good quality diet, in particular, specialised dental diets such as Royal Canin Dental Diet or  Hill’s T/d
• Toothbrushing is the gold standard of dental care. You can start at any age, although introducing brushing shortly after acquiring a puppy or kitten is the best time.
  Use a tooth brush for pets and a veterinary toothpaste (human toothpaste is poorly tolerated and can be toxic, to our pets). The technique is different to humans, so please get advice from your vet or, even better, a veterinary nurse.
• Chews, Plaque-Off, Pastes and Rinses; these have a role to play but are considerably less important and effective than the first two measures.

Are there any other conditions?

Neck lesions (Feline odontoclastic resorpative lesions):

• These are depressingly common lesions affecting the teeth of our pet cats. They are focal areas of destruction of the enamel and dentine, which eventually expose the nerve rich pulp of the tooth. As you would imagine they are incredibly painful; even when a cat is under a full general anaesthetic, touching the affected areas directly will cause a response.
• Usually more than one tooth is affected.
• Sometimes the lesions are under the gum, and can only be detected by probing once the cat is asleep, or by xray.
• Attempts to treat them usually fail and at present the best and kindest option is to extract the affected teeth.
• Unfortunately other teeth are at risk of becoming affected later, but applying the above preventative measures can help prevent this.

Abnormal jaw and tooth development:

Retained Temporary Teeth. Temporary teeth should have been lost by six months of age. Any still remaining by then need to be extracted under general anaesthesia since they will cause damage to the permanent teeth and potentially push them into an abnormal position. Both scenarios will cause pain and set up the vicious circle of periodontal disease.

Lingually Displaced Mandibular Canines. This is when the lower canines grow inside the upper canines, and their tips abut against the soft tissue of the palate causing erosions, ulcers and potentially periodontal disease to the upper canines. If diagnosed in younger cats, these teeth should be removed, to relieve pain and increase the chances of the adult teeth erupting into a normal position. If the problem is diagnosed after the adult teeth have erupted, then the lower canines should either, be extracted or, shortened and sealed by an endontic procedure called direct pulp capping or, manipulated into a normal position with an orthodontic device called an inclined bite plane. Each approach has its pros and cons and should be discussed with a vet experienced with these problems.