February is National Pet Dental Health Month

I am sometimes amazed at the severity of dental disease in dogs and cats, and how few symptoms they appear to show. They almost never act painful and continue to eat and act normal unless they get a severe abscess that cannot drain.

I recently had a client in with 2 cats and another client in with a small dog. All three of these pets had teeth that were abscessing. The cats were both acting normal. The dog had a swollen muzzle, no obvious drainage, was a bit lethargic, running a fever, and obviously not feeling well. None of them were acting particularly painful.

The first cat came in for the procedure with the knowledge that we were going to have an abscessed canine tooth (fang), with drainage, extracted. No other problems were found.

The second cat came in for extraction of a tooth with what is called a resorptive lesion. These lesions are similar to cavities, except that the decay is caused from the inside by the body’s own cells, rather than by acids and bacteria residing in the mouth. Resorptive lesions are often excruciatingly painful. At a surgical level of anesthesia, it is common for a cat to react to probing of the lesion with a chattering jaw and other signs of extreme pain.

This second cat is not the nicest cat, so the awake oral exam was somewhat limited. Even so, most of the disease in her mouth could not have been found until she was anesthetized. During the oral exam, we found that she also had a canine tooth with a draining abscess and a total of 4 teeth with resorptive lesions. I elected to extract the abscessing tooth and the teeth with the resorptive lesions on only 1 side of her mouth. For safety concerns, the other 2 teeth will be treated later.

The dog was missing a number of teeth, some had been extracted and others were reported to have fallen out. The abscess was in the area of an upper canine tooth. It actually involved the tooth on either side of the canine tooth. On X-rays and during surgery, it appeared that the disease involving the canine tooth was secondary to the other teeth. A very large amount of bone was missing from the area due to the infection. He had an additional 4 teeth extracted due to severe periodontal disease and has some other teeth that are likely to cause problems in the future. We also found and removed a small growth from his gums.

These cases point out several important things about dental care. Dogs and cats seldom quit eating or show us signs of pain from obviously painful problems. The owner of the cats recently had a tooth root abscess that she describes as some of the worst pain she has had to endure. Everyone I have spoken with who has had a tooth root abscess agrees that it is a very unpleasant experience.

We call the procedure a Dental ATP (Assess, Treat, Prevent). This procedure can only be adequately performed with the patient anesthetized. The patient is assessed during the oral exam. The entire mouth, each tooth and all the gums are visually inspected along with probing around each tooth. Abnormalities are identified and a treatment plan is developed and implemented. The procedure includes cleaning and polishing the teeth along with application of a sealant to try to prevent additional disease.

As in the cases above, the treatment plan could not be adequately developed until the assessment was completed. This makes it very difficult to predict what will be required before the patient is anesthetized. Each of these patients required surgical extraction of a very large tooth.

At the follow up appointment, the dog has healed well. He is reported to be back to running the house. Something the owners had not really noticed that he had not been doing for a while.

The mouth cannot be thought of as an isolated organ. The inflammation and pain can cause problems throughout the body. Pain also decreases quality of life. Taking care of your pet’s mouth before significant disease develops will help keep your pet healthy and happy.

February is National Pet Dental Health Month. Many veterinary clinics, like Bobtown Pet Clinic, will be offering discounts on dental services and/or products. More information on National Pet Dental Health Month can be found at www.mypetsmiles.com and www.petdental.com.

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