Pets use their mouth to eat, communicate, and explore their world, which can lead to a dental emergency, resulting in significant pain for your four-legged friend. Our Animal Care & Emergency Services team highlights these conditions’ urgency and we explain six common dental emergencies in pets.

#1: Oral trauma in pets

Significant trauma, such as being hit by a car, falling from a height, fighting with other animals, experiencing chemical or electricity burns, and chewing inappropriate objects, can affect your pet’s jawbones, teeth, facial bones, palate, and other oral soft tissues. Signs may include pawing at the mouth, bloody saliva, facial swelling or asymmetry, inability to open the mouth or eat, and bad breath. 

Pets affected by oral trauma are first evaluated and treated for life-threatening conditions such as shock and head trauma. Once the pet is stabilized, our team may sedate or anesthetize them to evaluate their injuries fully. X-rays help us assess the extent of the damage, and surgery may be necessary to stabilize fractures and repair lacerations. Antibiotics, pain medications, and nutritional support are often necessary to facilitate a pet’s recovery.

#2: Tooth root abscesses in pets

Untreated periodontal disease or a traumatized tooth can lead to a tooth root abscess as bacteria invade the tooth’s root canal. Abscessed teeth are extremely painful. If your pet has a tooth root abscess, they may exhibit signs such as facial swelling, inappetence or chewing only on one side of the mouth, bad breath, and eye drainage because the back upper tooth roots lie just below the eye. Infection can easily spread to surrounding tissues. If left untreated, an abscess can rupture, causing a draining hole in your pet’s face or jaw.

Intraoral dental X-rays are necessary to definitively diagnose a tooth root abscess. Tooth extraction is often necessary to clear the infection, and if periodontal disease is present, this condition must also be addressed. Our Animal Care & Emergency Services team also typically prescribes antibiotics and pain medications to help resolve the infection and manage your pet’s discomfort.

#3: Oral foreign bodies in pets

Some pets will put just about anything in their mouth, and sharp or stiff objects can penetrate into or through tissues, or become embedded in their oral cavity. In addition, linear objects, such as strings or ribbon, can get caught around the tongue. Signs may include excessive drooling, bad breath, gagging, repeated swallowing, coughing, bleeding from the mouth, and inappetence. Common culprits include foxtails, sticks, bones, rocks, and string. 

Sedation or anesthesia is often needed to find and remove an oral foreign body, as well as to treat your pet’s injuries. Tissue damage caused by oral foreign bodies often becomes infected, and antibiotics are typically necessary to prevent or treat these infections.

#4: Tooth fractures in pets

Fractured teeth are common in pets and may be caused by chewing on hard objects, such as antlers, bones, cow hooves, and unbendable chew toys, or by complications from untreated periodontal disease. Tooth fractures that expose the dentin cause heat, cold, and pressure sensitivity, while those that expose the nerve (i.e. pulp) are extremely painful and highly susceptible to infection. Tooth fracture signs include chewing on one side of the mouth, dropping food from the mouth, excessive drooling, jaw chattering, and pawing at the mouth.

If your pet has a tooth fracture, they require immediate veterinary care to receive pain relief and antibiotics to help prevent infection. Most also require surgery to extract the affected tooth.

#5: Dropped or locked jaw in pets

Your pet may have an illness or disorder that prevents them from closing their mouth. An inability to close the mouth can be caused by:

  • Trigeminal nerve paralysis — The trigeminal nerve provides motor control and sensation to the lower jaw. Trigeminal nerve paralysis (i.e., neuritis) is a poorly understood condition that is likely caused by inflammation or an autoimmune disease. Affected pets are unable to close their mouth, but their mouth can easily be manually closed. Pets typically recover in two to three weeks, and fluid therapy and nutritional support are necessary until they can eat and drink normally.
  • Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysplasia — This condition, which has been reported in Basset hounds, Cavalier King Charles spaniels, dachshunds, and Persian cats, is caused by a TMJ malformation that can result in luxation, sometimes precipitated by a yawn. The affected pet’s jaw locks in an open position. The displacement is corrected under sedation but may require surgery if the problem recurs.

#6: Masticatory muscle myositis in pets

Masticatory muscle myositis (MMM) is an autoimmune disorder that affects dogs, causing their immune system to attack their muscle tissue. Breeds at increased risk include golden retrievers, doberman pinschers, German shepherd dogs, Labrador retrievers, and rottweilers. Signs include an inability to open the mouth and swollen, painful facial muscles. 

MMM is diagnosed through blood testing and a muscle biopsy. Treatment involves pain medications, nutritional support, and steroids to reduce the inflammation. 

If your pet experiences a dental emergency, they need prompt veterinary attention. Contact our Animal Care & Emergency Services team so we can ensure they get the care they need.