Whatever the age of your cat, it is never too late to try and bush their teeth. It is going to take patience, time and rewards, but it is the best way of keeping your cat’s dental health good.  

First, you need to be able to hold your cat's head. With the cat on your knees, back to you, gently hold the head with the palm over the skull and reward if tolerated. Then you can use the fingers to hold the cheekbones and once that is tolerated, lift the lip and check the teeth. This can take a while doing a bit at a time.  

Once the cat is fine with having the teeth checked, you can start offering a bit of cat toothpaste on a finger so your cat can lick it off. Then offer the toothpaste on a brush for licking, before taking the next steps of holding the brush on a tooth, then starting to brush. A finger brush is not advised for cats as they may bite it, so use a special cat toothbrush. Getting the cat used to one step before moving onto the next can take a while, so patience is essential.  

Try and get a routine started, so that you do the teeth at the same time every day, ideally when your cat is relaxed on your knees. If your cat puts a paw up to stop you or wriggles against you at any time, stop and try again later. Forcing a cat is never going to work, you must wait for them to learn tolerance. Many cats will learn to allow some form of home dental care, but others do not have a suitable temperament. 

Tooth brushing can start after 6 months old, when the kitten has finished teething. Before then, you can start getting your kitten used to having their head and face handled and then having their teeth checked.  

Stroking around the face and head and rewarding the cat when they allow it, can take patience and time but makes future handling and vet visits much less stressful. Don’t put your fingers in their mouth as you may well get nipped, but eventually you may be able to touch the teeth from the side.  

Once your kitten will let you handle their head easily, you can try offering a little cat toothpaste on your finger for them to lick off. The next step, once the kitten is happy with the toothpaste taste is to try and gently rub some of it onto the sides of the back teeth.  

When the kitten is 6 months old, you can start getting them used to a soft brush with the toothpaste on, just licking it first, then moving onto very gently touching then brushing the teeth.  

Cats and kittens can take a long time to learn to allow toothbrushing and some cats will not allow it at all. Taking your time, giving rewards and starting young will all boost your chances of being able to brush your kittens' teeth. 

Gingivitis means inflammation of the gums. Many cats suffer with this, and it is seen as a reddened, swollen gumline around the teeth.  

Young kittens that are teething can have gingivitis that may settle as the permanent teeth finish erupting. Senior cats generally have gingivitis secondary to dental disease with plaque, tartar and infection. Flat-faced cats suffer from crowding of the teeth, making tartar formation around the crowded teeth faster and causing gingivitis earlier in life.  

There are also several conditions that will cause gingivitis, the worst of these is feline chronic gingivostomatitis which has no cure, just management, the mainstay being removal of the teeth and immunosuppressive drugs.  

Some cats do appear to be genetically predisposed to developing dental disease, so, if your cat is predisposed, they will likely need more dental treatment than other cats.  Getting a yearly dental check at your vets is important for your cat, especially if you are unable to check your cat’s teeth at home.  

If your cat will not let you brush their teeth, there are other things you can do to reduce the plaque build-up on the teeth. Regular dental checks with a vet or a nurse will help you know whether dental treatment is necessary, and if not, the vet or nurse can give advice on how to help keep the teeth and gums healthy.  

There are many dental or oral-care diets available; these are complete diets that have a larger kibble size and contain extra fibrous material – forcing the cat to chew the kibble and acting as toothbrushes. There are also dental treats that can be offered instead of normal cat treats that have can have higher sugar content. Again, the cat gets some scraping action on the teeth as they chew. 

Oral gels are available that act as oral antiseptics in your cat's mouth, or there are dental toys for cats that encourage chewing, some with catnip to really keep the cat interested. 

If you cannot check or clean your cat’s teeth, then you will not be aware of any dental health issues. Cats are very good at hiding health problems until it is impossible for them to hide it anymore, so it can be easy to miss dental disease until it is advanced.  

Plaque and tartar will develop over time, causing gingivitis – swelling and inflammation in the gums and then periodontitis (inflammation of the ligament that holds the tooth in place). The gums recede, exposing the tooth roots and dental infections develop. Cats can also have problems with resorption of the tooth material where the crown joins the root; the crown then snaps off and the roots can become absorbed by the bone of the jaw.  

Feline chronic gingivostomatitis is where the gums become so inflamed that they ulcerate and develop fluffy extra tissue around the back of the mouth. Infection then sets in, and the cat develops bad breath and problems eating. This horrible condition cannot be cured but can be managed in most cases.  

As well as causing chronic pain, tooth loss and chronic infection of soft tissues and jawbone, dental disease is linked to heart disease as bacteria from the dental infection travel in the blood stream and attach to the heart valves.  

It is very important to check your cat’s teeth yourself or arrange regular veterinary dental checks if your cat will not tolerate it at home. Any dental problems can then be addressed quickly to prevent deterioration and keep your cat’s mouth healthy. 

After having had a veterinary dental treatment – usually a scale and polish plus any necessary extractions under general anaesthetic, many owners reports that it is like having a new cat.  

Cats are notorious for not showing signs of pain and will continue to eat and drink normally even with severe dental disease present. Once the mouth has been cleaned and painful teeth removed, many cats are more comfortable, eat better and become more active, more playful and more sociable.  

It is well worth getting your cats teeth checked yearly by a vet so that any dental disease is identified, and necessary dental health measures planned, either for you to do at home, or a dental performed by the vet.