Surprise!

I have learned to expect the unexpected when doing dentals on my patients. The past few dentals I have done, have proven that beyond a reasonable doubt.

Duffy was one of my dental surgery patients. When I saw the small area of gingivitis on the premolar tooth (307), I took a dental radiograph. I was surprised at the extensive loss of bone around the roots of the teeth. I was expecting a little loss around the one tooth, not all three teeth. The two yellow lines represent where the bone is supposed to be holding the teeth in place.

Before I had dental rads, I would likely have only known to remove that one tooth. The red lines show the fused roots of 304 and 305. (Luckily I watched Sesame Street as a kid and learned how to count. All the teeth have assigned numbers.) Knowing that important piece of information allowed me to adjust how I drilled to expose the these roots and remove them easily.

Due to the extent of Duffy's dental disease, he went home with about eight teeth. Now don't worry. If our pet's can eat with that kind of dental disease, just think how well they do when they have healthy gums!