Dental radiography is a service more and more veterinarians are offering to their clients. The oral cavity is the gateway to the rest of the body and its health is imperative to the health of all other internal organ systems. Dental radiographs give us information about root health that can not be appreciated above the gumline.
Cosmo is a 8 year old Bichon Frise who presented for a dental cleaning and upon examination it was noted that he had a missing central incisor on the left side of his upper jaw and the central incisor on the right side was discolored and loose.
When radiographs were taken we discovered that the root of the discolored loose tooth was fractured under the gumline and the missing tooth actually had broken off at some point and a root was retained under the gum. The remedy was to extract the loose tooth and retrieve the retained root as they can abscess if left unaddressed.
Without the dental radiograph the retained root would have been left in place a could have been detrimental to Cosmo.
