Dental disease is one of the most common, yet frequently underdiagnosed conditions, affecting adult cats. Because cats are hardwired to conceal pain to protect themselves, they rarely show obvious outward signs of dental discomfort. They will continue to eat, play, and behave normally even while managing significant, chronic oral infection and pain.
A professional veterinary dental assessment allows us to look beneath the surface to identify and treat hidden sources of pain to improve your cat's quality of life and reduce the risk of dental-associated systemic disease.
Why Feline Dental Care is Different
Cats suffer from unique oral health conditions that require specialised veterinary intervention. Unlike humans, they cannot simply tell us when a tooth aches, making comprehensive routine clinical evaluations essential.
1. Feline Resorptive Lesions (TRs)
Cats are uniquely prone to tooth resorption. This is a painful condition where the body’s own cells begin dismantling the tooth structure from the inside out, starting below the gumline.
The Danger: These lesions leave highly sensitive nerve endings exposed.
The Detection: Because the damage often starts hidden beneath the gums, a visual check at home is rarely enough; whole-mouth dental radiography (x-rays), targeted dental charting and professional probing are required to find them.
2. Periodontal Disease & Systemic Risk
Chronic inflammation of the gums (gingivitis) and surrounding bone structure (periodontitis) is driven by plaque buildup. Left untreated, the active bacteria living in an infected mouth can enter your cat's bloodstream, potentially causing secondary damage to vital internal organs, including the kidneys, liver, and heart muscle.
3. Fractured Teeth
Due to their active outdoor lifestyle, cats have a high risk of fracturing their teeth through misadventure such as fighting, falling from heights, or being hit by traffic.
Unfortunately, once the crown of a cat's tooth is fractured, the tooth almost inevitably alway dies, leaving a chronic source of pain and infection (a periapical granuloma) that is only resolved with either extraction or roor canal.
What a Comprehensive Dental Procedure Includes
To safely and effectively treat feline dental disease, your cat's procedure is performed under a highly monitored, tailored general anesthetic. General anaesthesia is always essential to ensure the procedure is properly performed as it allows our clinical team to be incredibly thorough without causing any stress or discomfort to your pet, while at the same time protecting their airway from the fluid produced during surgery.
The tiny dental anatomy of cats means adequate care relies on us having a range of proper equipment. At CoroVets, we use specialised high-magnification dental loupes and focussed LED illumination to ensure we are treating every tooth adequately. Access to this equipment means we can be more precise in the small mouths of cats and reduce the risk of complications like leaving root tips behind.
Steps in a Dental Procedure
Ultrasonic Scaling & Polishing: Using the same equipment your own dentist uses, we remove tartar and plaque from both above and below the gumline, followed by a precise polish to smooth the enamel and slow future plaque attachment. The residual polish is flushed from the mouth to prevent irritation to the gums.
Whole-mouth dental radiography: Because cats cannot communicate the location of painful lesions, x-ray of all teeth is always performed to pick up abnormalities that are not clinically visible. Studies have shown that up to 40% of important dental abnormalities are missed in cats when radiography is not performed.
Full-Mouth Dental Probing & Charting: We meticulously inspect every individual tooth for structural integrity, the presence of resorptive lesions, gum recession, and hidden pockets of infection.
Surgical Extractions (When Medically Indicated): If a tooth is fractured, severely decayed, or affected by painful resorption, it is carefully extracted. We utilise localised nerve blocks and comprehensive pain management to ensure your cat wakes comfortably. Extraction sites are carefully sutured closed with absorbable suture to speed up healing and improve comfort at home - our pets cannot flush debris out of their extraction sites.
While bad breath is often laughed off as a quirky pet trait, chronic halitosis is potentially a primary indicator of active oral infection. If you notice your cat dropping food, chewing strictly on one side of their mouth, or not chewing at all (simply swallowing food whole), these are signs that an assessment may be overdue.
If you would like to discuss your cat's current oral health or have noticed changes in their eating habits, you can book an appointment now using the online booking platform at the top of the page.