25/09/2026
🐾 Lucky Oddie
Oddie was 16 years old and had a very sore mouth. In fact, his mouth👄 was so sore that he wouldn't let us have a proper look.
He had already been seen by a few other vets. We managed to get a glimpse inside his lips and I showed his owner what I could see.
“Isn't that just a cat biscuit?” she asked.
“No,” I said. “That's a huge, loose tooth covered in tartar!”
Oddie did, in fact, have CUPS☕️ — Chronic Ulcerative Paradental Stomatitis. This is a very painful condition where a dog's immune system has an exaggerated inflammatory reaction to tartar on the teeth. The adjacent tissues inside the lips and cheeks can become extremely inflamed and ulcerated where they rub against the teeth.
No wonder Oddie didn't want us looking in his mouth!
His owner was understandably concerned about putting a 16-year-old dog through a dental—not only because of the cost, but also because of the anaesthetic risk at his age.
I explained how much discomfort he was likely to be in and that, in this case, quickly removing the really bad, loose tooth would make him comfortable again. And they would benefit from a non smelly breath.
A week later, he was taken to surgery. it was so satisfying to clean up his mouth and finally remove the teeth that were making his gums so inflamed and sore.
Some teeth have two or three roots, and these can be at different stages of disease. In Oddie's case, both roots were loose but the tips were only just holding on. A tooth can become so diseased that it starts to wriggle and move, but it still doesn't necessarily just fall out. If a tooth is already very loose, it doesn't always take much to remove it—but it still requires a general anaesthetic to do it safely and properly. Unlike humans, who can sit nicely with their mouth open for the dentist, dogs aren't quite so obliging! 😆
So what is CUPS?
CUPS can make a dog's mouth extremely painful. You may see red, inflamed or ulcerated areas inside the lips and cheeks, severe bad breath, drooling, reluctance to eat, or a dog that simply won't let you touch or look at their mouth.
The problem is that tartar on the teeth can keep triggering the inflammation, so simply treating the sore area isn't always enough. .
Lucky Oddie was lucky that we got to see him and his teeth properly, and show his owner what was actually happening—and that she understood that the painful, loose tooth was causing him discomfort and needed to come out, despite his age.
Sometimes one bad tooth🦷 hanging on can impact the other teeth, especially when it is trapped right at the back of the mouth.
The aim is always to retain sound teeth for as long as possible—but in a comfortable, healthy mouth. This requires regular assessments, good dental care at home 🏡 through diet, chews or brushing, and simple procedures to keep tartar and gum disease under control.
Catch us, while we are still offering FREE dental checks.
