Tooth Resorption in Cats: The Painful Problem You Cannot See

What it is

Tooth resorption is a process in which the tooth's own structure breaks down and is replaced, usually starting below the gum line. As it progresses it exposes sensitive inner tissue, which is why it hurts.

It is one of the most common dental conditions in cats and one of the most painful. The cause is not fully established, which is worth stating plainly — a great deal of confident material online goes beyond what is known.

Why you probably cannot see it

This is the single most important thing on this page. Much of the destruction happens in the root, below the gum, where no amount of looking in your cat's mouth will reveal it.

What is sometimes visible is a red, inflamed area at the gum line where tissue is growing into the defect, or a tooth that looks slightly eroded or has a chunk apparently missing. But a cat can have advanced resorption with a mouth that looks broadly unremarkable.

That is why diagnosis requires dental radiographs taken under general anaesthetic. It feels like a lot for a cat that seems fine, and it is also the only way to find the problem. Cornell's material on feline dental disease makes the same point about dental disease generally: a visual examination in a conscious cat substantially under-detects it.

The signs, such as they are

Cats conceal oral pain exceptionally well. Many affected cats show nothing obvious. When signs do appear, they are indirect.

• Dropping food, chewing on one side, or eating more slowly than before.
• A sudden preference for soft food, or approaching the bowl hungry and then walking away.
• Drooling, sometimes with a trace of blood.
• Pawing at the mouth, or a tremble or chatter of the jaw when eating.
• Bad breath.
• Reduced grooming, so the coat looks unkempt — grooming uses the mouth, and a painful mouth means less of it.
• Behaviour change: hiding, irritability, biting when the head is touched, or reduced interest in interaction.

The behaviour items are the ones most often attributed to age or temperament. A cat that has become grumpy about being stroked around the head is giving you information.

What treatment involves

Described so you know what to expect. Resorption is progressive and cannot be reversed or filled — the tooth structure is being destroyed by the body's own process, so restoration is not an option in the way it would be for a cavity.

Affected teeth generally need extraction. The specific approach depends on the type of resorption and on what the radiographs show about the root, which is another reason imaging is not optional.

This page deliberately contains no treatment instructions beyond that. It is a decision to make with a vet who has seen the radiographs.

What you can do

There is no established prevention for resorption specifically, since the cause is not known. What is worth doing is everything that supports oral health generally and, more importantly, getting the mouth looked at regularly.

Annual veterinary check-ups with an oral examination, and dental radiographs when recommended, are the realistic tools. Home tooth brushing benefits periodontal disease and is worth establishing where a cat tolerates it, but it will not prevent resorption.