Dental disease - a silent killer

Do you wonder why people live longer now as opposed to 50 or 75 years ago? Because they take better care of their teeth. Not only can dental disease cause tooth loss, it can also cause organ system failure and therefore shorten life spans. More importantly, what you see on the tooth surface and the tooth itself is just 25 to 30 percent of the whole tooth. I once had a dentist tell me that "a tooth is like an iceberg.... what you see on the surface is only a small part of the entire iceberg."
Recent improvements in veterinary dentistry have seen a revolution of new diagnostic techniques: digital radiography, several new endodontic procedures, and gingival treatment. It's very important to take care of your pets teeth!
So what this means is, just because what you see in your pets mouth looks healthy, doesn't necessarily correlate to healthy teeth and gums, especially in middle aged to older pets. if your pet has not had a professional teeth cleaning in the last year, its up to you to take your pet to your veterinarian for an in depth oral exam.....Dr. Biles

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open arrow on affected tooth-Looks normal from oral examination....

Open arrow showing same tooth radiographically- severe peridontal disease present and this tooth actually had a caries lesion (cavity) on inside surface under gum line.