Dental implants for cats?

Is there such a thing as dental implants for cats? My cat's teeth have really deteriorated on the wet food, and given his age, he'll likely spend a lot of years with few/no teeth

So... what about when the vet puts him under to clean/extract teeth, why not extract them all and put in implants that can't rot on the wet food, so he can have good teeth for his whole life?

Thanks, in advance.

 

Where did you get the idea that canned is bad for a cat's teeth? From what I have read, dry is worse that canned.
Regarding implants, they have been used for cat's canine teeth
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28978271
https://www.petmd.com/blogs/thedailyvet/ken-tudor/2014/january/are-dental-implants-good-pets-31242
https://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/javma.243.12.1680?journalCode=javma
http://www.aaha.org/blog/NewStat/po...-use-of-dental-implants-in-cats-and-dogs.aspx

 

I personally had 2 implants ( both of which failed causing peri-implantitis after 10 years). In my case I had to have bone grafting done first (general surgery) since there was not enough bone to hold the implant post. Then wait two months to make sure the graft had taken. Then have the implant posts put in (IV sedation) and wait another two months for the actual crowns to be installed. This required dental x-rays at each step. I don't know whether the same procedure would be followed with a kitty, but for a person it is a long drawn out procedure ( and expensive). I personally can't see the benefits of doing this for a kitty. My 18 year kitty has only a few teeth left and is able to eat very well. She is even able to eat dry food..although I do not give that to her unless her glucose is very low and she won't eat MC or HC wet food. A lot of money and stress for the kitty with very little gain IMHO

 

My old Ty had very few teeth left for quite a few years. Didn't stop him eating at all.
Same with my late old Dad at the time.

 

My kitty Oliver had all but his tiny little front teeth removed due to resorptive lesions. He was 7 at the time. 3 years later he is thriving and doesn't seem to miss them at all

 

My daughters 10 month old kitty had to have 13 of her back teeth out because all her teeth had budded and were all double teeth which caused major problems with infection and inflammation. Once she had recovered from the surgery she has had no problems at all with eating a raw home prepared diet which consists of several varieties of meat cut up into small, but not tiny pieces.
Last week she got up onto the table where I had some chicken gizzards....those really tough things ....and she took one and I found her under the table having a wonderful time gnawing through it. She is now 2 1/2 years old and is managing fine with only her front teeth.
Also I don't think that wet food leads to bad teeth.....it is a myth that kibble cleans cats teeth.
Giving raw bones for them to gnaw on will help clean their theeth.
I clean my cat Harry's teeth every night with a cat toothbrush.

 

My cat had few back teeth and eats just fine. Wet food isn't bad for their teeth

 

The only cats I have ever had that had bad teeth were this one, and one that lived to be 19 1/2. The old cat had good teeth until I had to start feeding him wet food because he wouldn't eat the dry at all or without throwing up, sometime about 18-19 years old. My current cat's teeth were beautiful on the dry food, but have deteriorated on the wet. All of the other cats I've had were fed dry, and all of their teeth were great. On the last visit, the vet said the cat needed a dental cleaning and (probably) extractions, and it was because of the switch to wet food BTW, my cat will absolutely not let me brush his teeth

So what happens if I just let the teeth go and fall out on their own over time? Assuming there's no infection...

 

As others have said, cats usually manage to eat just fine with few or no teeth. I would imagine that implants would be prohibitively expensive, not to mention having to put a kitty through the various stages that Mary Ann describes above. I don't think I'd consider it for my cat.
It's certainly a good idea though to be aware of your kitty's dental health. Infections can cause high blood glucose as well as other problems. So regular dentals might be the way to go.

 

Most cats don't even chew their food. They gulp it down...wet or dry.

I had a cat that had only his canine left...he ate just fine.