Dental fractures are frequently seen in dogs and cats. Biting at the bars of a cage and vehicular trauma are common causes of fractured canine teeth in dogs. Chewing on hard and brittle objects (cow hooves, antlers, NylaboneⓇ toys, bullysticks, Himalayan yak cheese toys) often cause fractures of the large, back teeth in dogs. Falling from a height and vehicular trauma are common causes of fractured canine teeth in cats. A dental fracture can expose the pulp inside the tooth, which contains sensitive nerve tissue and blood vessels. Oral bacteria then contaminate the pulp, cause the pulp tissue to decompose, and the infection can then leak out through tiny openings at the tip of the root to contaminate the surrounding bone. Fractured teeth with pulp exposure must either be extracted or repaired. 

Repair of fractured teeth involves completely removing the dead or contaminated pulp, chemically sterilizing the cleaned interior of the tooth (pulp cavity), and then filling the tooth with inert filling materials. The remaining crown is then restored with either dental composite or in certain situations, by coverage with a prosthetic metal crown. RCT is much less traumatic than surgical extraction, and the function of the tooth is preserved. 

Sometimes, blunt-force trauma that was not severe enough to fracture a tooth can still result in compromise to the blood flow inside the pulp, which then results in pulp death. Such teeth appear purple, gray, or brown compared to adjacent teeth. In this situation, the tooth has not been fractured, so bacteria have not contaminated the pulp. Nevertheless, dead pulp is present inside the tooth, and treatment includes either extraction or root canal therapy. 
 

In contrast to extraction, root canal therapy allows the patient to keep the important chewing and grasping functions of the teeth. The 8 circled teeth are considered “strategic” teeth and are the ones for which RCT may be an appropriate choice if the injured tooth is an acceptable candidate for treatment.

Example of a fractured right maxillary canine tooth:

Before: 

     

After: