Why do Dental Radiograph's Matter?

      When my son was three he hit his teeth (really hard) at the playground. I didn’t think much of it at first, until he started complaining “milk hurts my teeth” with little tears in his eyes. That’s when I noticed one of his front teeth starting to turn a grey color. You might be asking what this has to do with your fur baby? Like any good parent I took him to the dentist where they took radiographs (x-rays) to see what was wrong. It turns out he just “bruised” his tooth and it didn’t hurt his adult teeth, but it could have been much worse. 

       In the human world we go to the dentist every 6-12 mouth, and almost always the dentist will take radiographs of our teeth to make sure there is nothing wrong with your teeth under the gums surface.  Pet dentistry hasn’t been around or common place for very long, and taking radiographs an even shorter time. Animals are notoriously great at hiding pain and can not say things like “water hurts my teeth”, “My tooth broke when I was chewing on that big bone”, or “It really hurts when I eat”. This is why our fur babies need to have full mouth radiographs in order to know what hurts and what may be wrong in the places we can not see. 

       Depending on the tooth, 70% or more is under the gum line; which means that little bits and pieces of food, toys, and anything else they put in their mouths can get stuck. This can lead to big issues that can not only affect the mouth, but their over all health. Animals can also be born with abnormalities or genetic disorders, such as teeth not erupting (never coming above the gum line). Dental radiographs replace the guess work, with a diagnostics.  Studies have shown that significant pathology is missed in up to 75% of the patients without radiographs.    

       It is better to have any and all problems fixed when the teeth are being cleaned instead of when there is a major pain issue. If you have ever broken a tooth, had a cavity, or any dental problem you know how much it can hurt. You have the ability to say “ouch! This needs to be fixed!” With dental radiographs we can say just that for your pet.

Source: mypetdentist.com