Find the Iceberg in Your Pet’s Mouth
Just like an iceberg – with its mass hidden under the water, dental disease is hidden beneath the gum line. Only with dental x-rays are we fully able to evaluate the problems in your pets’ mouth.
At Minden Animal Hospital we are proud to include full-mouth digital x-rays in every dental procedure. This allows us to identify and treat all issues when your pet is under anesthetic – and send them home with a healthy and disease-free mouth.
We hear over and over again how just a few weeks after the dental procedure pets are acting years younger – playing with their toys again and have a bounce back in their step. Dental disease is painful and often goes undiagnosed and confused for an aging pet. With regular cleanings and screening with dental x-rays, we can keep the teeth in your pets’ mouth longer and ensure they stay healthy for years to come!
Dental x-rays also allow us to determine the difference between missing versus an un-erupted tooth. While under anesthetic for other procedures such as a spay or a neuter, we take the opportunity to count your pets teeth (which can be difficult to do in a bouncy puppy or a feisty kitten). If there are missing teeth, only an x-ray will tell us if it was never there or if it did not come up to the surface. Teeth that do not come up to the surface often form a dentigerous cyst – a cyst that forms in the bone around the tooth. This cyst may look like a bony cancer in the jaw to the naked eye and could require costly high-risk surgery – something that could easily be prevented by identifying and removing these un-erupted teeth at a young age.