08/22/2025
How healthy are your dog’s teeth? Warning- bloody photos ahead! 😵💫🦷💉🩸
These photos show how SNEAKY dental disease in pets can be. The first two photos show a relatively normal looking tooth (the left upper 4th premolar) on both of its surfaces on visual exam- this is what you can see when you look in your dog’s mouth too. The video shows a deep gingival pocket we found while probing the teeth under anesthesia, the dental radiograph (x-ray) confirms the large amount of bone loss in this location- the black area within the yellow circle. The 5th image shows what we found when we elevated the gingiva (gums) away from the tooth- the yellow line indicates where the gingival tissue was lifted from, the black circle shows the missing bone which should be covering the tooth root. The final photo shows the root after it was surgically extracted (note-this tooth has 3 roots, all 3 were surgically removed and the gingival tissue closed over the socket for proper healing).
We thought this case was important to share. It highlights the importance of dental cleanings under anesthesia where the teeth can be probed and full mouth dental radiographs can be taken to find disease hidden below the gum line. Without treatment, the disease associated with this tooth was causing pain and chronic infection. Some pets will show their owner signs that their mouth is painful, but many will not! We are so glad we could help this pup, he will be feeling so much better after this procedure.
Please let us know if you have questions about your pet’s dental health, it’s so important for their overall quality of life! 🤗🐾🚐🏔️
