DENTISTRY
Intraoral Radiography — A MUST
Remember, approximately 60 percent of the tooth
is located subgingivally. The radiographs allow you
to “see” below the gum line. Full-mouth radiographs
should be exposed and examined on every profes-
sional oral hygiene visit. Figuring out how to accom-
plish this can be a challenge both in staff time and cli-
ent compliance. Some practices choose not to charge
for the radiographs separately. Other practices charge
what they think is reasonable without giving the owner
an option of radiographs or not.
are lesions that cannot be seen or probed on an an-
esthetized examination (Figures 6A, 6B, 7A and 7B). In
animals with identifiable pathology on examination,
radiographs showed other undetected pathology in
approximately 50% of cases.
Studies have found that in those cases without clini-
cal findings, radiographs showed clinically important
pathology in 27.8% of dogs and 41.7% of cats. 1 These
Figure 5 A shepherd's hook explorer used to probe a crown root
fractured maxillary premolar. The explorer tip stuck into the den-
tin, confirming pulp exposure.
Figure 4C. Application of a local antimicrobial.
Figure 4D. Completed application of the local antimicrobial.
Figure 6A. Left mandibular canine first and second premolars
with plaque and tartar.
Figure 6B. An intraoral radiograph revealing stages 3 and 4 periodon-
tal disease; extraction of the imaged premolars is indicated.
Issue 04 | AUGUST 2017 | 27