DEFINITION/OVERVIEW
- Absence of tooth or teeth due to developmental conditions, not to trauma or extraction
- Total anodontia: absence of all teeth due to failure in development
- Partial anodontia: failure in development of part of the dentition
- Hypodontia, oligodontia: some teeth missing
- Edentulous: “without teeth”—but primarily due to tooth loss (e.g., end-stage periodontal disease)
- Total anodontia: absence of all teeth due to failure in development
- In dogs, premolars or distal molars are the most common missing teeth (Fig. 16-1)
- If a deciduous tooth is missing, its permanent successor will probably not develop as well
- If a permanent tooth is missing, and a deciduous tooth was not exfoliated and is still present, if root structure is still stable, that deciduous tooth might stay functional for a long time; lack of permanent tooth should be documented
ETIOLOGY/PATHOPHYSIOLOGY
- Dogs/cats
- Total and partial anodontia: typically hereditary and may be associated with ectodermal dysplasia (rare)
- Bilateral patterns of missing teeth may be indicative of a genetic or familial tendency, as opposed to a single missing tooth
- Total and partial anodontia: typically hereditary and may be associated with ectodermal dysplasia (rare)
SIGNALMENT/HISTORY
- Any breed, size, or gender, but smaller breeds predominate
- Some familial tendencies, breed prevalences
CLINICAL FEATURES
- Tooth not present (crown and root)
- Alveolar bone and gingival margin at site is regular, smooth, even slightly “scalloped” appearance
- No tooth structure present radiographically
DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS
- Delayed eruption
- Unerupted teeth (see Chapter 15)
- Invulsed tooth
- Extracted or lost due to periodontal disease or trauma
- Fusion tooth: if two teeth have fused, there will be a reduction in the tooth number (see Chapter 18)
DIAGNOSTICS
- Complete oral examination
- Appropriate preoperative diagnostics when indicated prior to procedure
- Intraoral radiographs essential
- Determine if teeth are truly missing, and/or if permanent teeth are present (Fig. 16-2)
- Prepurchase full-mouth radiographs on 8–10-week-old puppies can identify if permanent tooth structures are present (although there is no guarantee they will erupt)
- Determine if teeth are truly missing, and/or if permanent teeth are present (Fig. 16-2)
Figure 16-2 Nine-month old Chinese crested presented (for neutering) with 11 permanent incisors and permanent molars; the remaining teeth were deciduous. (a) Permanent maxillary incisors in contrast to small deciduous canines and premolars. (b) Deciduous mandibular premolars in front of the permanent first molar. (c) Radiograph of mandibular premolars showing no permanent replacements with relatively stable deciduous premolars. (d) Radiograph of mandibular incisors shows five permanent incisors (the left first mandibular incisor is a deciduous one with resorbing root; it was extracted); the canines are deciduous, but with no permanent successor, they were kept.
Stay updated, free articles. Join our Telegram channel
Full access? Get Clinical Tree
