Dental disease affects the vast majority of older companion animals and represents a major source of chronic pain that is consistently under-recognised and under-treated by owners.
Dental disease causes chronic pain that profoundly compromises animal welfare yet remains invisible to owners who interpret continued eating as health. An animal eating with dental pain is not eating comfortably - it adapts by avoiding hard food, eating more slowly, or favouring one side. Post-dental treatment behaviour changes - increased activity, enthusiasm for food, and social engagement - reveal how significantly chronic dental pain had been reducing quality of life. Annual veterinary dental checks and early treatment prevent the progression to severe disease requiring extensive extraction. The welfare argument for routine dental care is compelling: sustained, unrecognised pain resolved by accessible treatment.