Naperville Animal Hospital offers services for feline tooth resorption, a painful condition where dental lesions erode tooth structure without a known primary cause. As the condition progresses, it can lead to severe pain and difficulties in eating, ultimately requiring extraction of the affected teeth. Post-treatment, regular home dental care is essential to prevent recurrence, which is quite common.

1. TOOTH
RESORPTION IN
CATS
Naperville Animal Hospital

2. Introduction
■ Naperville Animal Hospital provides comprehensive prevention and
treatment services for pets. Naperville Animal Hospital routinely
incorporates dental care, including annual examinations and regular
cleanings, into its service regimen.
A painful and serious condition, feline tooth resorption occurs when
lesions on the tooth begin to wear away at its structure.Veterinary science
has not yet identified a primary cause of these lesions, though some
believe autoimmune responses or oral inflammation to be at fault.
The disease typically begins with the development of a lesion at the gum
line.Visually, it may seem as though the tooth has developed a hole or
that the gum tissue has begun to grow into the tooth. In some cases,
however, the lesion itself is invisible to the naked eye and is only
perceptible via veterinary magnification.

3. Tooth Resorption
■ As the lesion grows, it erodes first the root surface and then the
dentin. Lesions that have progressed to the dentin can become
quite painful and interfere with a cat's eating habits. If left
untreated, the disease will eat away into the tubules inside the
tooth and erode the enamel. Eroded enamel ultimately leads to
near-complete resorption, in which structural changes cause
the tooth to become a raised area of hardened tissue.
Extraction, either partial or total, is currently the only
treatment for tooth resorption. Owners must follow this
treatment with careful regular home cleanings, as recurrence
of the condition is extremely common.