Periodontal Disease in Sheep

Periodontal disease is inflammation and infection of the tissues that hold a tooth in place, including the gums, periodontal ligament, and supporting bone. In sheep, the problem is often most obvious around the incisor teeth at the front of the lower jaw. As disease progresses, the gums recede, pockets form around the teeth, and the teeth may loosen or fall out.

Many sheep producers use the term broken mouth to describe sheep with short, loose, worn, gapped, or missing incisors. Sometimes this reflects age-related wear, but true periodontal disease adds painful gum inflammation, pocketing, infection, and loss of tooth support. That matters because sheep rely on healthy incisors to crop forage efficiently.

A sheep with painful periodontal disease may still try to eat, but it often grazes less effectively and takes longer to maintain body condition. Over time, that can lead to weight loss, poor thrift, lower milk production, reduced reproductive performance, and earlier removal from the flock. The condition can range from mild gingivitis to severe periodontitis with tooth loss and chronic pain.

Periodontal disease develops when plaque bacteria trigger inflammation in the gums and deeper tooth-supporting tissues. Research in sheep with broken-mouth periodontitis has shown deep periodontal pocketing, inflammatory change, and a distinct bacterial community in affected mouths. In practical terms, this means the disease is not only about worn teeth. It also involves infection and tissue destruction around the teeth.

Age is a major factor because older sheep have more tooth wear and longer exposure to plaque, rough forage, and minor mouth trauma. Sheep grazing coarse or abrasive pasture may be at higher risk for gum injury around the incisors, which can make bacterial invasion easier. Flock-level factors such as nutrition, mineral balance, pasture conditions, and overall body condition may also influence how severely disease develops.

Not every sheep with a worn mouth has active periodontal infection. Some have age-related wear without major inflammation, while others have painful disease with loose teeth, gum recession, and infection. That is why your vet will look at the whole picture rather than assuming every older sheep with a short mouth has the same problem.

Diagnosis starts with a physical exam, body condition assessment, and a careful look at the mouth. Your vet will check the incisors for wear, spacing, looseness, fractures, gum recession, odor, discharge, and pain. They will also consider the sheep's age, grazing ability, weight trend, and flock history.

In more involved cases, your vet may recommend sedation for a better oral exam. This allows closer inspection of the gums and tooth attachment, and it can make extraction of painful loose teeth safer if needed. If there is facial swelling, draining tracts, severe looseness, or concern for deeper infection, imaging may be recommended to assess bone loss or other dental disease.

Diagnosis also includes ruling out other causes of mouth pain or poor eating. Differential diagnoses can include contagious ecthyma, trauma, foreign bodies, oral abscesses, bluetongue, and other infectious or inflammatory mouth conditions. Because sheep often hide pain, a flock animal that is quietly losing condition deserves a thorough workup.

Prevention focuses on reducing mouth trauma, supporting good nutrition, and catching dental decline early. Check mouths routinely when handling sheep for breeding, shearing, vaccination, or body condition scoring. Older ewes deserve extra attention because broken-mouth changes often become more common after about 5 years of age.

Work with your vet to review pasture conditions, forage quality, mineral program, and flock nutrition. Coarse, abrasive grazing conditions may increase wear and gum injury in some systems, so management changes may help lower risk. Sheep with early dental decline often do better when feed is easier to grasp and chew.

Good prevention also means making timely flock decisions. A sheep that cannot maintain condition because of a painful or poorly functional mouth may need treatment, a diet change, or removal from the breeding flock. Early recognition is usually more practical and more humane than waiting until severe weight loss develops.