Well, now I would like you to stop worrying for a while.
If all that came out negative for something to really worry
about, dental troubles loom far less serious. I dunno lip
smacking at all....no cats we've had ever did that...but
I will tell you that old Oliver, our Oriental Shorthair who
lived to be 14 eventually, had all his teeth extracted except the 4 front
incisors (biting teeth) as TED advised
his teeth were too far gone for cleaning (Oliver had shown no signs of
distress and ate like a pig). Oliver was
pretty old at the time and the anesthesia was tricky; he
alarmed the staff @ TED's so they kept him extra 2 days for observation, but
he came home fine and ever after
gummed his food w/same enthusiasm for it as always.
So if Otis needs extractions it won't be so bad. BTW.
Oliver's dental surgery happened quite a long time ago,
and TEDs are much more knowledgeable re preferred
anesthesia for old cats these days!