In addition, loose teeth, swollen gums, and
cervical neck lesions, also known as resorptive lesions, hurt!
An annual examination will help determine whether (or when) dental prophylactic cleaning will be needed, and will permit early identification of common, but often painful,
cervical neck lesions on teeth.
Gait abnormalities, such as ataxia, paresis, or paralysis, may be present if secondary spinal cord or nerve root compression occurs.2 When neurologic signs are present, they correlate to the location of the discospondylitis
lesion;
cervical vertebral column
lesions may cause tetraparesis and
neck pain; thoracolumbar
lesions may cause pelvic limb paresis, proprioceptive ataxia, and back pain; and lumbosacral
lesions may cause a stiff, stilted pelvic limb gait.1, 2 Discospondylitis can affect any area of the vertebral column, but the most commonly affected sites are L7 to S1, caudal
cervical, mid-thoracic, and the thoracolumbar spine.