Dental disease affects the majority of adult companion animals and causes significant chronic pain that owners often fail to recognize.
Companion animals with dental disease live with chronic pain that owners frequently cannot recognize because animals continue to eat and behave relatively normally. The stoic nature of cats and dogs means dental pain goes untreated for months or years. Periodontal bacteria entering the bloodstream cause systemic disease. The gap between the prevalence of dental disease and treatment rates represents a significant welfare failure.