Maintenance of oral function in 3 cats with dental resorption

Abstract

Mandibular molar tooth function is important for cats, however, current veterinary dental practice is to extract teeth affected by even very small resorptive lesions. The aim of this article was to describe an attempt at salvaging mandibular molar teeth where the mesial root and associated crown remained unaffected by resorption. Three cats presented with localised resorption of the distal root of a mandibular molar tooth were treated by hemisection, extraction of the distal root and endodontic treatment of the mesial root. The oral function was maintained in all three cats with no clinical evidence of pain or further resorption at follow-up 10 months post treatment. One cat was also examined at 27 months post treatment, at which stage there was still no oral discomfort and the tooth appeared fine but there were radiographic signs suggestive of early apical resorption. Whilst longer term follow-up is required, it appears that hemisection may be an acceptable treatment for these localised resorptive lesions, at least for the short to medium term.