Dental disease is the most common serious health condition in pet rabbits, causing chronic pain, weight loss, and secondary abscesses. It is largely preventable through appropriate diet and breed selection.
Dental disease in rabbits is a welfare crisis of significant proportions. Affected rabbits experience chronic oral pain from tooth spurs, overgrown incisors, and root abscesses — pain that substantially impairs eating, social behaviour, and quality of life. Because rabbits hide illness effectively and have subtle pain cues, dental disease is frequently advanced before owners recognise a problem. Lop breeds — among the most popular rabbit types — have skull anatomy that virtually guarantees dental problems: a short, compressed skull forces the same number of tooth roots into insufficient space. Buying or adopting lop rabbits perpetuates demand for breeds selected for a welfare-compromising trait. Once dental disease is established, treatment is expensive, requires regular repeat procedures under anaesthesia, and is often palliative rather than curative.