09/10/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/1GyTExX64W/?mibextid=wwXIfr
๐ข๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฒ๐
๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ด๐น๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น ๐ด๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฟ๐.
The ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฒ ๐ช๐ฆ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐น๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ provide comprehensive recommendations for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management of dental disease in dogs and cats.
Here are some of the key highlights:
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ช๐ฆ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐น๐ ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฒ๐๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฎ-๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฟ๐. A complete and professionally thorough dental examination cannot be performed in a fully conscious patient, and procedures such as professional cleaning require general anaesthesia with a secured airway.
๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ต๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐. Full-mouth radiographs can reveal substantially more pathology than an oral examination aloneโone cited study found about ๐ฐ๐ฌ% ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ผ๐ด๐. Radiographs are mandatory for teeth with clinical evidence of disease.
๐ง๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ต๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ. Daily homecare is recommended, while passive methods such as dental diets and treats may provide additional benefits.
๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐๐ถ๐๐๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ. The guidelines state that standard dry dog and cat food provides only minimal oral-health benefits and does not appear to significantly decrease the risk of periodontitis. Specially formulated dental diets may provide greater benefit.
๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฒ๐
๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ผ๐ป and can have major welfare implications when left undiagnosed or untreated. It can cause chronic pain, persistent infection, stress, and severe local or systemic disease.
๐ข๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฒ๐
๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฝ๐ต๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฒ๐
๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. A conscious examination is useful for an initial assessment, but it has limitations. A complete examination is only possible under general anaesthesia.
๐ข๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐บ๐ถ๐๐. Dogs and cats may not show obvious signs of pain, and a normal appetite does ๐ป๐ผ๐ rule out significant oral disease. Changes in eating habits are only one of many possible signs.
๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐พ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐น ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐. Plaque can accumulate again within ๐ฎ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด, which is why ongoing homecare is so important.
๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ณ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐ฐ๐๐น๐๐. It should include a thorough oral examination, periodontal probing and charting, appropriate dental imaging, cleaning, and treatment of identified pathology.
๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฟ๐. Dental disease itself can be an important source of chronic pain, while procedures such as extractions and advanced periodontal therapy can cause moderate to severe pain. Appropriate anaesthesia, analgesia, and local anaesthetic blocks are therefore important.
๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐. Professional treatment addresses existing disease, but without continued homecare, the benefits of periodontal therapy are severely limited.
๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐๐ป'๐ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐๐ต. Periodontal disease can have significant local consequences and has also been associated with systemic inflammatory effects, making prevention, early detection, and treatment important components of overall patient welfare.
The big takeaway? ๐ฉ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐บ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ. It involves prevention, thorough assessment, accurate diagnosis, appropriate treatment, pain management, and continued homecare.
Paper linked in the comments.
