I just came back from the doctor because of my mouth. I had some dental work done a month ago and had some places appear in my mouth the next week. The first thought was a reaction to what the new crown was made of but it was the same material as my other crowns. Then I thought it was a food allergy cause I had been eating strawberries and cantaloupe both are highly acidic. Anyway it would appear to be getting better with the mouth rinse the doctor prescribed but never went away. This week my tongue has been very sore and red on the sides. The doctor said it was STomatitis, which is an inflamation of the muscous lining of the mouth. She said some people are more prone to get it and it often shows up after dental work. She has given me another rinse with an antibotic in it. She said though that if I had WHITe spots on the areas that it would be Apthous ulcers and that that would be treated differently. From what the OP described that might be what you have. I strongly suggest you see the doctor as she said that it could become very painful. I know how mine hurts and its not that. I am not trying to diagonse your problem but found it coincidental that she mentioned it. Hope your problem is better by now.

I never used to but have become a nightly flosser the last few years. As a child we took turns going to the dentist so of course, we ended up with lots of cavities and a big fear of dentist. My teeth are soft so I have so many fillings and over the years they have had to be replaced by crowns. I have 8 porcelin (SP?) veneers in the front top that cost me a bundle 10 years ago. As an adult I have always visited the dentist every 6 months but hated the cleanings. I now floss nightly and use an electric tooth brush but I do have to be careful with it not hurting my gums. I have so much metal in my mouth that I now have what the Oral surgeon said is a low electrical current that keeps the lining of my mouth very sensitive. I have dry mouth and if the balance of potassium, calicum and iron get a little off, my mouth breaks out in sores. I have managed to keep it under control with Biotene rinse and when needed a script from the dentist. I think preventive care has made such a difference in dental health. We were pretty poor and like with doctors, you didn't go unless there was a problem. Nowadays, kids go before they even have all their baby teeth.

There may be a connection, but the stronger connection is probably the periodontal disease itself, and insufficient dental/ gum care. The reason I say this is because I have recently been dealing with periodontal problems, and I have no indications of osteoporosis. My teeth are in reasonably good shape because I have been taking good care of them for the past ten years, but the years of neglect before that caused problems that can't really be fixed, so regular maintenance is important these days. I'm sure that measures toward maintaining good bone health can't hurt anything, and would probably be beneficial, but good dental care and regular cleanings will probably be more effective. When I went for my first root planing and scaling a couple of weeks ago, I picked up a couple of brochures at the periodontist's office. One of them mentioned hormonal changes as a contributing factor in gum disease. Mrs H

We just had to have our 11 yr old kitty's teeth pulled - all except for her 4 fangs. It was $900. The follow up appointments are at no charge (as long as the vet doesn't have to do any work on her). The vet was a dental specialist. From what I understand, most regular vets won't touch this sort of major surgery at all. If a tiny bit of tooth or root is left, the stomatitis will not be fixed. Puddin didn't even have to stay overnight, I was able to bring her home the same day (w/antibiotics and pain meds). She did say some vets do charge several thousand dollars, and keep the kitty several days, which she feels is unecessary, if there are no complications. Puddin had her surgery on a Thursday, and by the following Monday, was feeling a lot better (she came home with 6 days worth of pain meds, and was recommended to use for 3 days at the minimum, which is what we did). We adopted her in December 2006 - had the worse breath - very putrid. She had other health issues to overcome (courtesy of the "rescue" that had her), and we finally realized there was something not right w/her mouth a few months ago. She had never had any problems eating (even raw meat chunks), but the change in her behavior since her surgery does show that she did suffer before the total extraction. We had her on steroid and antibiotic therapy for a few months, and it helped a good bit, but not enough, and that wouldn't cure the problem, it just masks it for a while. It helped, but she still wasn't totally comfy. From reading on the internet, and talking to the vets, there are no magic potions or drugs that can fix this - they can only mask it and not 100%. While steroids did help, she still wasn't comfortable and was in PAIN, just not as bad as before the drugs. And, the longer you do steroid therapy, the less chance you have of the extractions working. The dental specialist has gone through this w/people before - keep insisting on steroids and finally realize that it is working less and less, and decide they want extractions, and it doesn't work! I did lots of internet research - there is a yahoo group on Feline Stomatitis, but what that group/site taught me was that NOTHING WORKS except for the extraction. There were tons of people that tried and continue to try homeopathic/holistic/traditional meds, rinses, etc... and none of them work. They may seem to help for a bit, and then more issues arise. And, these people seem to forget, that throughout all their experimenting, their kitty is SUFFERING and in PAIN. Plus some of this stuff is toxic - someone was singing praises about some "magic" mouth rinse - it had essential oils in it - EEEK! (Essential oils are deadly to kitties. So maybe it soothed kitty's mouth for a bit, but would end up destroying their liver/kidneys.) If the diagnosis is definitely stomatitis, NOTHING will cure it except for extraction. It was a hard thing to do, but I do not regret it. Since the extractions (end of August), she now does a full body kitty bath every day (never has done that before), and is much more active and happy. Her 1st after surgery check up went very well - things are improving greatly (both regular and dental vet warned us that it will take months to totally heal/clear up, and she may need steroids on occasion along the way - so far, just once). IMHO - 1. Get a definite diagnosis; 2. Find a dental specialist that you can get to (our's is in Alpharetta, GA - about 20 miles from us, but she has people drive from all over the SE US). Hopefully you will have more than one to choose from, so you can "shop"; 3. Hopefully you can find one that has a reasonable fee - if not, maybe you can convince the vet to let you take kitty home early = less monty? 4. Save up $ for it, and do steroid and/or antibiotic therapy until you can get it done. It will at least make your kitty feel better (not great, but better) until you can afford to get the teeth extracted; 5. Have ALL the "bad" teeth pulled at ONE time. I know it sounds awful, and you will feel awful for your kitty, but it is better to get it done ONE time, instead putting kitty through that several times! 6. Give probiotic supplements when you do antibiotics, to keep kitty's digestive system comfy. Our kitty is and was negative for all the nasties (FIV, calci, etc...), but was so sick when we adopted her, that might have triggered the stomatitis, but we will never know. (PS. You will need current blood work before the dental vet will do surgery. Most dental vets are referral from your regular vet - they don't just instantly take you and pull your kitty's teeth. They will want a history from your regular vet showing that you tried steroids, etc... and that it didn't work. Also, our dental vet wanted Puddin OFF steroids/meds for a bit before she saw Puddin - she wanted to see Pud's mouth looking its "normal" bad self. Oh yeah - Pud now bites and chews her toys - she wouldn't do that before the extractions, either. While it may seem like alot of money - you can do steroid therapy while you save up the $ needed. Oh - keep in mind it is not 100% sure bet. There is a small percentage of kitties that it doesn't work for (mostly those that have been on steroids for years), a percentage that it will help alot, but not cure. (I think it was 70% has 100% cure, 20% have improvement and 5% nothing.) If the cat has any of the nasties (FIV, calcivirus, etc.), that also lessens the chance of 100% cure. Some regular vets will say that cleaning will help, but that will only make the kitty's mouth look nicer for a bit, but since it isn't a cure, the stomatitis is still there, and the gums and teeth will go back to bad after a short while. Our regular vet didn't want to even try cleaning, she said it would just be a waste of our $ - Pud's mouth might look better for a few weeks or even a month or two, and go right back to where it was before. She would rather have that $ go to fixing the problem (getting Pud's teeth extracted). Pud eats raw food - she has no problem eating small meat chunks, and won't touch the nice soft canned food I got her for the few days after her sugery that her gums were too sore to deal w/the meat. She is still going through a learning curve regarding how to pick up food in her mouth w/out all those teeth! Hope this helps...