What You Should Know About Oral Health Assessments For Cats

Dental disease in cats might not be completely preventable, but good oral hygiene can make a significant difference when it comes to promoting the overall health of your cat.

Oral health assessments, at regular intervals, are necessary to maintain good oral hygiene. During routine physical assessments, a cat’s oral cavity and dental crowns need to be examined properly. Unfortunately not all cats are easy to assess while they’re awake. Some cats simply don’t want to be handled; others may already be in pain. If this is the case then pain relief, sedation or anesthesia is usually necessary before proceeding.

Anesthesia is also required for a comprehensive assessment, a process which should ideally include radiographs to look for possibly concealed dental conditions.

IMPORTANT: DENTAL SCALING IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR A COMPREHENSIVE ORAL ASSESSMENT.

Details Recorded During an Oral Health Assessment

Under anesthesia, the following details can be recorded:

• Growths
• Any swelling
• Mobile teeth
• Inflammation
• Tooth root disease
• Need for therapy or surgery
• Presence and degree of tartar
• Teeth that need to be extracted
• Presence and degree of gingivitis
• Healthy, fractured and absent teeth
• Tooth resorption lesions that are visible
• Odors and possible causes

Next Steps

Findings and recommended treatment should be discussed with the client in detail after the assessment. It’s very important that any pain is relieved or at least reduced as soon as possible. Your veterinarian will inform you if pain management medication is recommended and how to safely administer it.

If surgery is necessary, pain medication can be administered before, during and after the procedure. Once the treatable issues have been addressed, cleaning can be performed by a qualified professional.

Moving forward, good oral hygiene practices and routine physical assessments should resume.