DENTISTRY
Article reprinted with permission of DVM360 – November
03, 2017. DVM360 MAGAZINE is a copyrighted publication
of Advanstar Communications inc. All rights reserved
The ABCs of Veterinary Dentistry
"M" is for "Malposition and
Malocclusion"
In veterinary medicine, the goal of orthodontic correction isn’t
a pretty smile but pain-free, functional occlusion.
By Jan Bellows, DVM, DAVDC, DABVP, FAVD
“Are those braces on dogs' teeth?” This question, posed
to me by a fellow passenger on my return flight from a
veterinary conference, caused me to put my current task
(subject-tagging images of dogs’ and cats’ mouths on my
computer) on pause. I explained that in cats and dogs, the
goal of orthodontic correction isn’t a pretty smile but pain-
free, functional occlusion.
What happens when you peek into the mouth of a
patient and note that one or more teeth are out of place?
Hopefully you don’t quickly close the mouth, hoping that
the pet owner didn’t spot the problem. (Out of sight, out
of mind.) It’s much better to let your client know when
something isn’t right in their pet’s mouth and explain what
it will take to fix a poor or nonfunctional bite. But before
you can recommend orthodontic care for your patients,
you’ll need to embrace the concepts of malposition and
malocclusion.
Occlusion
Figure 1A. Normal maxillary incisor overlap. (All images courtesy of
Dr. Jan Bellows)
Occlusion refers to the relationship between the maxillary
and mandibular teeth when they approach each other, as
occurs during chewing or rest. Normal occlusion exists
when the maxillary incisors just overlap the mandibular
incisors (Figure 1A), the mandibular canines are equidistant
from the maxillary third incisors and the maxillary canine
teeth, and the premolar crown tips of the lower jaw point
between the spaces of the upper jaw teeth in a saw-
toothed fashion (Figure 1B).
Flat-faced breeds, such as boxers, shih tzus, Boston
terriers, Lhasa apsos and Persian cats, have abnormal bites
that are recognized as normal for their breed in which
the mandibular jaw protrudes in front of the maxillary jaw,
altering the above tooth-to-tooth relationship (Figures 2A
and 2B).
Malocclusion and malposition
Figure 1B. A dog's left buccal view; normal interdigitation of canines
and premolars.
vet360
Issue 02 | MAY 2018
| 10 04 | AUGUST 2017 10
Issue
Malocclusion refers to abnormal tooth alignment.
Skeletal malocclusion occurs when jaw anomalies result