Question on dental procedure complications

[catlove615]

My cat will soon have a dental procedure to look into the probable need for an extraction or extractions. A previous vet (years ago) mentioned that sometimes the cat's jaw is inadvertently fractured during the extraction procedure. Has this happened to anyone's cat? If so, how was your cat treated for the jaw fracture?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi
Gracious sakes. Seriously though, if you're concerned perhaps a dental specialist would be better?

What do you mean by a dental procedure? You mean a cleaning and observation?

 

[catlove615]

Cleaning will be done as a matter of routine. But the visual observations already suggest the probable need for extractions.

 

[Furballsmom]

About the fractured jaw during dental extractions, I searched this site back a bit and didn't find any references so I believe that if it occurred, the cat shouldn't have been taken to that particular clinic in the first place.

I'm not understanding your first post, I think. Are they going to give your cat anesthesia again, look at the teeth again, poke around, and decide on extractions to be done later with a third anesthesia?

is this a cat-only veterinary clinic?

 

[catlove615]

Thus far, the vet has looked at her teeth without anesthesia, but sees enough to know that my cat will need x-rays (under anesthesia) to determine specifics. The procedure(s) will be done at that time. So only one anesthesia total. They will of course do pre-op bloodwork, which is normal before anesthesia. It's not a cat-only clinic, but they treat many cats (as well as dogs).

 

[daftcat75]

That’s a very rare complication. This is a discussion you should be having with your vet because the Internet is just going to make you more scared or nervous than you already are.

As I understand it, the risk of a jaw fracture is much higher pulling healthy teeth—something your general vet should not be doing. Now if the teeth are diseased already, their extractions should be easier. And these aren’t teeth you want him to keep anyway.

There are cases where pulling healthy teeth proactively is not a bad idea: chronic degenerative disease like resorptive lesions (FORLs) or chronic immune/inflammatory disease like stomatitis. In this case, you most definitely want a veterinary dentist, not just a general vet, on the case. They will have the training and expertise to avoid the worst outcomes.

 

[daftcat75]

If this is your general vet, which it sounds like it is, he will very likely not commit himself to a procedure he doesn’t feel comfortable with. I would say the risk of a fragment of a root remaining after an extraction is much higher than a fractured jaw as complications go. Ask if X-rays will be performed after the procedure to make certain no root fragments remain. Also ask the vet the likelihood of more teeth needing to be extracted in the future. Is this a chronic degenerative disease or just a one-off thing? If it’s resorptive lesions aka FORLs plan on a making a dentist consultation in the next six months to determine if any proactive work should be done or if you should simply wait and see. I would also commit to an annual dental as tooth issues are rarely a one-time thing.

 

[catlove615]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. Regarding stomatitis, I've had three kitties with that terrible disease. With two of them, all teeth were extracted, which helped a lot, but didn't totally resolve it. The third cat had a milder case, fortunately.

 

[Furballsmom]

We're sending tons of good thoughts, let us know how things go