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Broken teeth are very common in cats and dogs, with as many as 25% of dogs presenting with a fractured tooth during their life. Road accidents, blunt injuries, stones and bones are all common causes but sometimes owners are unaware of the injury as their pet gives no signs of pain or discomfort.

We know from our own experiences that broken teeth are painful and require dental treatment. The options are to extract the tooth or to perform a root canal. If neglected, infection and abscesses nearly always occur. Until now, we could only offer extraction at Mill Road and a trip to see Craig Hunger in South Auckland was needed for a root canal. This winter I attended an endodontics course in Ireland attended by vets from all over the world and learned a great deal in this field.

The picture below is a large dog incisor I completed during the course.

A root canal is carried out on the major teeth - the canines in a dog and the big upper premolar and lower molar.  In a cat, the canines are the only teeth large enough. The procedure preserves the function of the tooth and treats infection. Treatment involves anaesthesia, x-rays, removing the dead pulp, cleaning and shaping the root canal and finally sealing the crown. Some teeth cannot be treated if periodontically diseased, have a very narrow canal or a fractured root. It is a technically demanding procedure, and does require follow-up x-rays. Having a root canal will allow your pets’ teeth to return to normal!

We now offer this service at our Mill Road branch!

Why do chickens lay so many eggs? Sadie’s leaky gut

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