Dental radiography in veterinary practice
Abstract
The structure of the oral cavity poses significant challenges in the diagnosis of dental disease. When disease or trauma occur beneath the gingival margin, the inability to see sub-gingival tissues can obscure the extent of the problem and prevent timely treatment. Considering the potential number of sub-gingival pathologies, dental radiography is a non-invasive tool which provides significant benefits in terms of diagnosis and treatment.
Veterinary dental care has many inherent challenges. Clients are often not aware of signs of oral pain in their pets so dental problems may go unnoticed for some time. Routine preventative measures can be a challenge for clients to carry out on a regular basis and in the absence of daily brushing, dental disease may be allowed to progress more rapidly (Gorrel and Rawlings, 1996). Once the animal is presented in clinic, there are additional challenges which can complicate accurate diagnosis. Animals are not able to describe pain or discomfort so initial identification of a dental problem may be delayed. The anatomy of companion animals can also pose a problem in that many animals have a relatively small oral cavity making it difficult to view gross dental abnormalities. In addition, the gingiva covers a majority of the tooth surface so occult oral pathology may go unnoticed without further diagnostic tests.
Register now to continue reading
Thank you for visiting The Veterinary Nurse and reading some of our peer-reviewed content for veterinary professionals. To continue reading this article, please register today.