Feline canine conundrum

RE: Feline canine conundrum

Kate Richardson — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 20:31:43 GMT

Thanks, really helpful answers, you guys are so helpful and it’s much appreciated

RE: Feline canine conundrum

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Thu, 01 Jul 2021 16:05:56 GMT

No detectable pain. No discoloration. No mobility. No probe-able pocketing. No need whatever of extraction.

And to be a bit pedantic, although in the plain English meaning of the word "swelling", thats swelling of the contour, it's not swelling in the normal medical meaning, it's bony enlargement. An interesting phenomenon but not an indicator of a need for treatment (beyond oral hygiene).

The root canal of 104 is indeed abnormal, but there's no way of telling why. It may just be like that. Or there may be some internal resorption going on (which may or may not eventually indicate some treatment, which may be quite soon or may be in the distant future. Actually I think the whole of that canal is slightly wider than that of it's mate 204, but that may be subjective or due to slightly different angles

On the other hand I have to disagree with Rob about the periodontal ligament widening.

Conclusion? Just keep an eye on it.

As regards terminology, although I use the "correct" terms because I'm used to it, I don't give a darn if you refer to, say, "the lingual side of 108" – it's absolutely clear what you mean. "Vestibular" gets round the awkward question of where the cheek (so "buccal") ends and the lip (so "labial") ends. The dentition of cat or dog does turn through a sharp angle at the canine teeth, so you won't go wrong if you say "buccal" distal to the canines and "labial" mesial to the canines, but if you want to just stick to "labial" for all the teeth it wil always be clear what you mean (which is the point of technical nomenclature).

Remember this stuff has been borrowed from human dentistry, and humans have short lips whereas the lips of dogs and cats go pretty well along the whole of the cheek.

However "mesial" and "distal" are important to master, being informative, precise and above all useful.

RE: Feline canine conundrum

Rob Davis — Thu, 01 Jul 2021 15:29:50 GMT

[quote userid="6386" url="~/001/veterinary-clinical/small-animal/dentistry/f/expert-help/29903/feline-canine-conundrum/231012#231012"]what do you think of the second X-ray (104)- the root canal seems to widen at about 2/3 along the root? [/quote]

It looks like there is some internal root resorption. It wouldn't change my decision making if the tooth looked otherwise ok, although that tooth does look to me as though there is a small area of periodontal ligament widening on the buccal aspect.

The BVDA have an online evening session about tooth resorption coming up in August if you're interested....

[quote userid="6386" url="~/001/veterinary-clinical/small-animal/dentistry/f/expert-help/29903/feline-canine-conundrum/231012#231012"]And do you have an idiots guide to describing lesion location in the mouth/tooth!!! I think I’ve mastered mesial and distal and palatal and lingual but buccal and labial and buccal confuse me- is it buccal for al the maxillary teeth and labial for all the mandibular?[/quote]

The AVDC nomenclature page says:

Vestibular is the correct term referring to the surface of the tooth facing the vestibule or lips; buccal and labial are acceptable alternatives.
Reference(s): Anonymous. Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria. 4th ed. Zurich and Ithaca: World Association of Veterinary Anatomists, 1994.
Comment(s): The term “facial” specifically refers to the surfaces of the rostral teeth visible from the front. According to Dr. A.J. Bezuidenhout, a veterinary anatomist at Cornell University, “facial” is a bit of a misnomer. Traditionally “facial” has been used in human dentistry for the aspect of teeth visible from the front, i.e. incisors and canines.

RE: Feline canine conundrum

Kate Richardson — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 20:49:05 GMT

Thanks Rob Davis

what do you think of the second X-ray (104)- the root canal seems to widen at about 2/3 along the root?
And do you have an idiots guide to describing lesion location in the mouth/tooth!!! I think I’ve mastered mesial and distal and palatal and lingual but buccal and labial and buccal confuse me- is it buccal for al the maxillary teeth and labial for all the mandibular?

RE: Feline canine conundrum

Rob Davis — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 14:35:05 GMT

Hi Kate,

Sorry for the slow reply, busy week!

There was a paper in the JoVD recently looking at this "Buccal bone expansion". They came to the conclusion that most of these are associated with vertical bone loss (infrabony pockets) and that concurs with my own experience. If there is no pocketing, no inflammation and no radiographically visible resorption or periodontitis then I think that leaving and monitoring is fine.

RE: Feline canine conundrum

Kate Richardson — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 21:15:12 GMT

NB Or maybe I just need some help with interpreting the X-rays!