Treatment for Oral Pain

Oral pain is sometimes challenging to diagnose as our patients can’t tell us what hurts, where it hurts, or what specifically causes it to hurt.

Many different specific medical conditions can cause oral pain, and treatment is always most successful if the root cause is addressed. It usually requires detective work to get to the bottom of the cause. Pain medication is helpful in the short term to help control symptoms and improve comfort, but is not usually a recommended solely as a long term solution.

 Some of the most common painful conditions in dogs and cats are:

• Feline Chronic Gingivostomatitis

• Contact Mucositis

• Complicated Periodontal disease with either abscessation or jaw fracture

• Severe tooth resorption

• Oral cancer

• Jaw Fracture

When we have a pet that has a concern of oral pain, we begin with a diagnostic investigation, including an exam under anesthesia, dental radiographs and a cone beam CT. Often biopsies are performed if they are needed. Based on our findings on our initial exam, we make our plan for how to proceed from there.     

In these cases, we work closely with pet owners and family veterinarians to address any surgical components of the disease and then provide ongoing maintenance care and pain control If there are any persistent issues that have not been addressed with the primary surgery.