Mandibular and maxillary fractures following acute trauma are generally presented with the animals vocalizing, defensive, and salivating. As with other skeletal fractures pain control is essential when stabilizing and repairing these cases. Soft tissue injury can be very painful following chemical or electrical injury. Acute pulpal exposure is another source of major pain that persists for hours to days then becomes masked. This will be discussed next.
Minor pain is a relative term.
What seems painful to one animal may be masked and endured by another. The pain is present but may require certain events for it to be manifested. An excellent example is apical disease. This is normally a result of endodontic disease usually from a broken tooth with pulpal exposure. The classic case is a broken upper fourth premolar in a canine.