Teeth & Telling Age

We had some extra time on our hands today because we got done with administering morning medications pretty quickly. We were told that if we wanted to learn about anything in particular or perfect our skills in a certain area to speak up and we'll go over it. I immediately knew what I wanted to do. I asked if we could learn, in depth, how to tell the age of animal using only the teeth as a guide. I've seen it done before and it seems almost magical to me! I knew a couple guidelines about determining age by dental examination but I didn't feel too confident so I pleased to hear that we could, of course, go over it! The great thing about this being a learning facility is that there are all sorts of posters, diagrams, books, charts and models to use. First, we looked at what a cat and dogs mouth looks like on paper. 

A dogs dental orientation.

We learned that the canines (the long, sharp front teeth) are going to be our main guide when using teeth to determine age if the dog/cat still looks pretty young. If the canines are fully in, the animal is probably between 6 months to a year old. If they aren't all the way in, they are most likely under 6 months. A way to tell the age in older dogs is by looking at the condition of the teeth. A lot of the time, older cats will be missing teeth. I've seen some with missing incisors or "nibblers" as we like to call them. This isn't necessarily because of bad treatment or neglect, but because of use or catching them on something. Teeth also can fall out due to age. It is also important to look at how much tartar or calculus is present on the teeth. The canines are usually pretty clean because they are used often so they are being rubbed on constantly. The molars are usually where you'd find a calculus build-up although in some cases can be seen on other teeth. Calculus is harded tartar from plaque remaining on the teeth for an extended period of time. Calculus can cause the animal to have gingivits which is redness of the gums and can become infected and swollen.

Calculus build-up on cat teeth. Picture taken from the web.

Because it takes time for this to form, if an animal has calculus on its teeth it is probably at least middle aged. Once we were given some tools to solve age, we were put to the test! We took a look at a few cats and dogs and reported what we thought the age was. The first cat I guessed was about 8 years and the others guessed 7 and 9 years. We then looked it up to see what the age of the cat really was and she ended up being 12 years old! It's harder than it sounds! So we moved on to a few other ones. The next one I was pretty close, but still about a year off. The third was a dog, and I looked its teeth guessing that she was about 5-6 years. My guess was highest when compared to 2 and 2.5 years. Turns out she was still young and was indeed about 2 years old. I don't look at it as failure though! It's a learning process, and I'll continue to guess the age until I feel confident. 


Being a shelter, we have to trust that what the relinquishers report is the most accurate. However, we may not know the entire history of each animal so it makes it tough to age. For example, the older cat that we all thought was younger may have had a dental exam recently before she entered the shelter giving us the impression that she was younger. Because of this, we have to use other cues to identify the approximate age. Eye condition, hips, greying muzzles and other physical attributes all contribute to solving the puzzle. 


Keeping your pet's mouth clean and healthy is one of the best things you can do for them! Scheduled dental exams, providing functional treats for cleaning teeth and regular at home care is crucial to ensuring your pets dental health and keeping their pearly whites happy!