The prevalence of chronic pain in dental disease is currently poorly understood in animals. If we compare this to the understanding of chronic pain in osteoarthritis, figures of 20-50% are cited. Recognition of chronic pain relies on the use of validated assessment tools, quality of life assessment and caregiver reported outcome measures. In the absence of validated tools in dogs and cats, CROMs offer a pragmatic approach to assessing chronic dental pain. With an understanding of the presence of pain and knowledge of pathological pain processes we can provide a rationale to our approach to analgesics used for the treatment of chronic pain.