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Many dogs and cats suffer from fractured teeth. These painful dental injuries have many potential causes. Dogs are often given chew toys and bones that are far too hard for their teeth and result in fractures. Cats can fracture teeth from playing or fighting with other cats or in self-defense when attacked by another animal. Tooth fractures may be superficial and only fracture enamel and expose underlying dentin. However, many fractured teeth will be severe enough to expose pulp in the center of the tooth.

A Comprehensive Oral Health Assessment and Treatment (COHAT) is a thorough assessment of the oral cavity of your pet with the formulation of a treatment plan to address any disease that may be present. The following description will demonstrate that calling the procedure just a dental cleaning misses many of the essential steps in the evaluation of the oral cavity.  

When it comes to pet gum care, consistent tooth brushing and annual oral exams are essential. We’ve also discussed the benefit of dental chews on the oral health of your canine companion. However, even with immaculate oral hygiene, your pet may still be at risk for gum diseases such as gingivitis or periodontal disease.

Tooth resorption in cats is a painful and often undiagnosed oral condition. It’s one of the most common oral diseases seen in felines. Cats are a prey species as well as a predator species. For this reason, they will often not exhibit any visible signs of pain. As the tooth begins to break down, dentin tubules are exposed—see our blog post on the Anatomy of the Tooth—which leads to pain and infection of the dental tissue.