[dazc]

I'm sure you already know that your pets don't consume much sugar and that's the main reason they don't get cavities?

Maybe humans will, eventually, evolve to a state where our teeth renew themselves naturally, without intervention? Who knows?

[whateveracct]

Pets get other stuff though. My understanding for cats at least is there's a heavy genetic component. I have two brother cats and one has bad teeth [1] and one has good teeth. But they eat the same and get their teeth brushed the same.

[1] As in, he lost one and needed his teeth cleaned by age 7 (not old). That said, I didn't get into a habit of brushing their teeth until they were several years old, and both of their teeth are excellent now (vet doesn't see either of them as needing a cleaning in the foreseeable future). So dental hygiene is helpful even for cats!

[taeric]

7 is fairly old for cats, I thought? Not ancient old, but well past early life.

I fully agree on it having a hefty genetic component. Pure breed?

[whateveracct]

I'd say it's neither old nor young. I believe it's like the 30s/40s of cats.

My cats are also pretty healthy otherwise - they're even older now and the vet always says she'd believe it if I said they were 5 by their muscle tone etc.

[taeric]

This is what I intended "fairly old" to be. The framing of the article was about grade school kids, so I really just meant well above that age. :D

[whateveracct]

haha that's fair

I think the gist of all this is "brush your teeth"!

[lost_tourist]

My cat is 14 and has never had a cavity and she pretty much just eats high quality dried food along with a bit of canned food every day. Not pure bred, she's a mutt.

[taeric]

Wasn't my intent on that. I was thinking in comparison to elementary school kids. Also just curious, all told.

My expectation would be that mutts have healthier teeth. And general health. That said, that expectation isn't strong enough that counter would shock me.

[wingworks]

Allot of what most people consume isn't great for teeth. Like coffee (and some teas).

[taeric]

I mean, you aren't wrong. They also eat a lot of really hard to chew things that scrape at their teeth and gums. And, I'm sure, breeding selected for pets that don't have massive teeth problems.

That is, I get it, very complex topic. You can see other similar "patterns" that are of little help in the animal kingdom. See a "fat" animal, and it is almost certainly one that doesn't eat meat as a primary nutrient source. Similarly, lean animals are typically predators. Would be a fallacy to think you have to be a meat eater to be lean, though.

The topic that has been intriguing to me lately, is the link between mouth breathing and poor oral health. So many topics that we don't know nearly as much about as we want individually. Much less all mixed up together.