Dental X-rays

Dental x-rays has greatly changed how we practice veterinary dentistry. So much of dental disease, such as periodontal disease, tooth root abscesses, jaw fractures, tumors, etc., occurs below the gumline, that dental radiography is an absolute necessity to practice veterinary dentistry. Dental X-ray allows for diagnosis of certain diseases, plan for the appropriate treatment as well as monitoring for treatment success. The relatively recent introduction of digital radiography has further advanced this diagnostic tool.

Digital radiography has the advantages over conventional film radiographs in that it uses much less radiation to create the image, the ability to enlarge the image to see small changes, easy retrieval, and the ability to print the images for client education.

Digital radiographs are also quicker to take and develop. Usually a radiograph of an area can be “developed” within 5-7 seconds, where dental film radiographs take generally one minute each. Digital radiographs have the added advantage of being easily e-mailed if needed for referral. We take full mouth dental radiographs as studies have shown that many lesions will be missed with a single x-ray.