Dental disease affects the majority of adult cats and causes significant chronic pain. Preventive dental care and regular professional cleaning dramatically reduce suffering.
Dental pain is chronic, pervasive, and largely silent in cats — their stoic nature means they continue eating despite significant oral pain, masking the problem. Owners discover dental disease at routine examinations or when advanced lesions cause complete eating cessation or visible facial swelling. Tooth resorption is particularly painful — lesions progressively erode enamel and dentine, exposing the pulp cavity. The duration of suffering in undiagnosed dental disease can be years. Professional dental assessment and treatment under anaesthesia, while carrying anaesthetic risk, provides dramatic pain relief that owners often describe as transforming their cat's behaviour and activity level — confirmation that chronic pain was present throughout.