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Dental disease in cats is more common than we think! About 80% of cats will develop periodontal disease by the age of 3.
Most cats will not show any signs of pain as they learn to cope with a chronic toothache, so it is easy for owners to miss signs of dental disease. That's why it is important to bring your cat in for their annual health check so that the vet can assess your cat's oral health.
A common dental condition in cats is called tooth resorption. This is a cavity like lesion that starts where the tooth meets the gum, or the neck of the tooth. In this condition, the dentin which is the calcified substance that surrounds and protects the tooth erodes and becomes destroyed. This is a painful condition and cats that produce these lesions can continue to have more of them in their lifetime.
If there is tooth resorption, the only effective treatment will be extraction.
A cat may also require a dental if there is periodontal disease or fractured teeth.
Feline gingivostomatitis is another condition that can be extremely painful for a cat. In this case, their immune system over-reacts to plaque and causes severe inflammation in the gum and surrounding tissues. This disease is commonly seen in cats that are FIV positive as they have a suppressed immune system.
Depending on the severity of any of these conditions picked up at the oral health assessment for your cat, the vet may recommend a dental procedure under anesthesia to further assess and treat.
Why can’t you do dental work without anesthesia?
Anesthesia is required as cats will not hold their mouths open voluntarily and say “aah”. During the procedure, the vet will probe each tooth to determine if there are signs of periodontal disease, fractures, or tooth resorptive lesions. Dental radiographs will be taken to diagnose disease under the gumline.
Any affected or diseased teeth will be surgically extracted, and the rest cleaned and polished.
But how will my cat eat with missing teeth?
A cat will not miss any painful teeth, as they already have been coping to eat without using these teeth. They will often even eat a lot better without the painful teeth and be noticeably happier in themselves overall.
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