Question of the Day

Dental caries (cavities) are UNcommon in dogs and RARE in cats.

This may be due to differences from humans in oral flora and diets that are mostly free of easily fermentable carbohydrates (ie: pets don’t drink soda pop every day).

Also, dogs have slightly alkaline saliva.

In cats there is a poorly understood problem called Feline odontoclastic resorptive lesions (FORL, or “neck lesions”), in which tooth material is resorbed around the “neck” of a tooth. Possibly infectious, but the actual cause is not yet known.