08/04/2026
This is why we always recommend removing broken teeth! This lower canine tooth in a feline patient is broken just at the tip - only a small fracture. However, you can see that the pulp chamber inside the tooth, where the nerves live, is wider than normal. In addition, the space at the tip of the root is darker or more lucent than normal, indicating infection.
This cat was eating and acting completely normally according to the owner, but this is a painful tooth! Imaging having an exposed tooth root in your mouth and having to live and eat with it every day, then developing pain in your jaw as infection sets in.
This kind of problem is often overlooked or dismissed in our feline patients. We make sure to check all of our kitties' teeth carefully when they come in for a checkup exam, and this is one of the many reason that routine checkup exams are recommended regularly, even if they seem completely healthy. Call today to set up your appointment!
*The adorable orange kitty is here only to demonstrate normal canine teeth. His are not broken!
