Studies have indicated that periodontitis is the most common oral disease in dogs and cats and possibly the most common disease seen in small animal practice. Indeed, evidence suggests that approximately 80% of dogs and cats over the age of three have periodontal disease. Whilst the early stages of periodontal disease (and indeed the gingivitis that precedes it) are probably not particularly painful to the animal, the later stages can be very uncomfortable and the sequelae can have very serious consequences. Periodontal disease has been linked to disease of the heart valves, kidneys, liver, pancreas and lungs, all of which can result in a significantly reduced life expectancy in animals suffering from this insidious and under-estimated phenomenon.There are also many other forms of dental disease besides periodontitis, including apical abscesses, feline odontoclastic restorative lesions (FORL’s – in cats), tooth fractures, caries (in dogs), gingiva-stomatitis (in cats) and more. Some of these have a greater impact on animal health and wellbeing than others, but in most cases intervention can improve quality of life for the affected animals.Because of the nature of the anatomy in the oral cavity (specifically the facts that a large amount of each tooth is hidden below the gum line and that the lips usually cover the teeth) coupled with the fact that not all animals are overly willing to allow their mouths to be examined, many of these disease processes can go unnoticed for far too long. Even when owners do notice something is wrong (usually either because the halitosis becomes too much to bear or the animal appears to go off its food), there is only so much that we as vets can diagnose simply by looking in the animal’s mouth.Artificial intelligence offers a way to visualize the entire length of every tooth in the mouth of a cat, dog or rabbit including the surrounding bony anatomy. This provides a wealth of information about the disease status of the teeth, allowing the vet to make a much more informed decision about what treatment is required and how to formulate the best treatment plan; it also allows monitoring of the success (or otherwise!) of treatments and interventional procedures.
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