Dental disease affects the majority of companion animals over age three and causes significant chronic pain. Prevention through home care and professional treatment dramatically improves quality of life.
Companion animal dental disease is one of the most prevalent and most undertreated sources of chronic pain in domestic animals. The near-universal prevalence in middle-aged and older animals reflects both the inadequacy of preventive dental care and the difficulty owners and veterinarians face in recognising oral pain in stoic animals. Dental pain causes persistent, measurable suffering that owners rarely detect until treatment reveals its extent — animals that begin eating enthusiastically and playing more actively after dental treatment had clearly been in significant pain beforehand. Anaesthesia-free dental cleaning, sometimes marketed as a welfare-friendly alternative, provides cosmetic improvement without the subgingival cleaning that addresses the disease and is considered inadequate by veterinary dental specialists.