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“Disarming” refers to dental procedures to either remove teeth (extract) or shorten the crowns of pets’ teeth in order to reduce the possibility of biting. While “disarming” may be employed to treat feline and canine aggression it does not absolutely prevent injury. Before the procedure is performed, behavioral counseling and training are recommended in order to control the biting behavior. Extracting the rostral teeth can be performed to prevent injurious biting; however pet to pet aggression and biting can sometimes be controlled by shortening the crowns of canine teeth and performing endodontic treatment. Additionally, odontoplasty and dentinal bonding can be performed to blunt the incisor teeth. These procedures can prevent serious injury to other pets in the household when one of the pets demonstrates interspecies aggression and biting, however dangerous dogs and cats that have a history of biting and causing injury to humans should not be “disarmed” because it may give the owners a false sense of security.
Endodontic treatment must be performed on teeth undergoing crown shortening and pulp exposure. The pulp tissue is partially removed from the exposed pulp chamber followed by application of a pulp medicament (Fig 1 & 2). In the final step a restorative material is placed on the remaining anatomic crown to protect the dental tissues (Fig 3 & 4).
While the American Veterinary Dental College endorses “disarming” along with behavioral modification in selected cases, the American Veterinary Medical Association does not endorse “disarming” and only recommends behavioral counseling / modification.
