Post by @zoethevet

WHAT A REVEAL! This is Sashimi!! His snaggle tooth might be ridiculously cute… but unfortunately, this one was causing him pain 😫🦷 That little lower canine wasn’t sitting where it should, and it was repeatedly traumatising his upper lip. So while his snaggle tooth made him look VERY cute, it was actually causing a problem that needed fixing. So what exactly is a “snaggle tooth”? 🦷 It’s usually a form of malocclusion meaning the teeth aren’t meeting or sitting together normally. Abnormal tooth positioning can have several causes, including developmental factors, jaw conformation, crowding, retained baby teeth and, in some cases, changes associated with dental disease. Importantly, not every abnormal-looking tooth needs treatment. This is where function matters more than appearance. If a tooth is simply a little wonky but isn’t causing pain or trauma, treatment may not be necessary. But when an incorrectly positioned tooth repeatedly contacts the lip, gums, palate or another tooth, it can cause chronic trauma and discomfort. This is known as traumatic malocclusion, and treatment is recommended when the abnormal contact is causing pathology. For Sashimi, his lower canine was repeatedly hitting his upper lip so extraction was recommended to remove the source of that trauma. And this is an important point about veterinary dentistry: We don’t remove teeth just because they look unusual. We treat teeth when there is a clinical reason to do so. ❤️ So goodbye, adorable snaggle tooth 👋🏻 Hello, hopefully much more comfortable Sashimi. 🥹🐱 #catlover #vet #vetnurse #felinedentistry