Oral diseases are common in cats, and tooth extraction is the most common procedure performed in feline dentistry. This study sought:
- To characterize the mandible height, mandibular canal height, and distance between the interdental alveolar margin and the mandibular canal.
- To use a patient’s age, weight, and canine tooth width at the free gingival margin level (wCGM), which was easily available during oral examination, to develop a mathematical model to predict the patient’s mandibular canal height.
Client-owned cats (n = 33) were enrolled. Right and left lateral digital skull radiographs were taken, and anatomic measurements of mandibular structures between the third molar distal root and the fourth premolar proximal root were obtained. The authors found a strong correlation between the wCGM obtained during physical examination and the radiographic measurements of the mandible height. This allowed for development of a mathematical model with a high predictive capability and low standard of error for mandibular canal height in cats.