"The Clinic That Cares"

Tooth resorption is a very common and painful disease of our feline patients.  Currently this disease is considered idiopathic meaning that we have not yet identified the cause. 

 

There is a lot of research ongoing at this time and hopefully in the next few years we will fully understand the causes of this condition.  In this disease the body begins resorbing or breaking down the teeth.  This can happen both above and below the gum line.  There is no currently accepted treatment to help save these teeth at this time.  Due to how painful these teeth are to our pets the current recommendation is to extract these teeth.  If an animal has one resorptive lesion they likely will have others and are prone to developing them in the future.  Dental examinations are recommended every 6 months to ensure that these lesions do not recur. 
 

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When these lesions affect the crowns of the teeth the gums will grow into the defect and are red and inflamed.

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​The more we look the more resorptive lesions we are finding in the canine population. 

Thankfully it is not nearly as prevalent as it is in cats.