My cat has a chipped canine tooth. Is costly vet dental work urgent?

No, a chipped tooth is not an emergency, but is something worth having your regular vet evaluate. These broken teeth can be painful if it involved the tooth root. It's best to have your vet examine her sometime in the next week to tell the extent of the damage and advise the necessary treatment. I hope that helps and all is well with Cleo.

Hello. At some point in time, Picole could still develop an abscess that could travel down into her jaw. The recommendation of all veterinary dental specialists is to either have the tooth removed or perform a root canal, even on an older fractured tooth. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

That certainly will depend on the veterinarian you choose for treatment. First of all I would take him in to have his teeth examined. They may not in fact need dental care if he’s eating and feeling fine. If he does need dental care then I would request an estimate. You have the right to decline extra treatment as long as it is not treatment that your veterinarian feels is essential to having a safe dental treatment. You can always shop around for a veterinarian who understands your concerns about your cat.’s treatment. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for your cat.

That looks like pretty painful gingivitis. There also may be some lesions on the neck of the canine tooth (FORL). Your vet will inspect the whole mouth and may suggest a tooth cleaning under anesthesia where the teeth are also cleaned underneath the gingiva. Unfortunately the teeth can look very clean, but underneath the gingiva bacteria congregate and cause tooth decay, inflammation, and, in serious cases, heart and kidney disease, This is not an emergency, but should be addressed soon.

The scaling and polishing portion of the dental is the least time consuming, and most inexpensive portion of the $1000 estimate. In addition, tartar left on teeth can further aggravate gum disease. The necessary extractions cannot be done without anesthesia or pre-anesthetic bloodwork to make sure that Baxter’s liver/kidney function appears normal enough to handle anesthesia. With severe gum recession/fractured teeth, cats can develop serious tooth root abscesses and oral pain resulting in weight loss, poor health. If there are in fact diseased teeth in Baxter’s mouth, having a complete dental scaling/polishing with necessary extractions will likely significantly improve his quality of life and decrease the chances of oral bacteria causing heart valve issues in the future. Good luck!

As Dr Fernandez recommended, taking him in to the vet would be highly recommended. Regarding being worried about him swallowing the tooth should it fall out on its own--the answer there is that you do not need to worry about it. If he were to swallow a tooth, it would be digested enough by the acid in the stomach to pass without a problem.

There is no need to take him in to your veterinarian at this time if the area where he lost the tooth is not hurting. Since you obviously have scheduled a dental cleaning for Milo, your vet can inspect the area during the dental cleaning while he is under sedation. The vet will also do dental radiographs to check for retained roots and neck lesions. These will need to be removed.