Teeth are made up of two main parts; the crown and the roots.

A healthy crown is easy to see, but roots are tricky... Dental x-rays are the only way to accurately evaluate them. Root abscesses are painful!

We can also use this detail-oriented x-ray to assess small bones in the feet of our patients!

Infected, diseased, or abscessed teeth need to go!

We are skilled at extracting cat and dog teeth. They can be tricky! Many of them have multiple roots, requiring sectioning (cutting in between the roots), and others have roots almost twice as long as the crown! We utilize dental blocks to numb the areas we are working on, gingival flaps to prevent dry sockets and speed up healing, and a high-speed drill to get it all done as easily as possible.

Broken teeth are not uncommon.

Chewing on hard things and injuries are the most common causes.

If there is pulp exposure (the middle of the tooth with the nerve and blood supply), these damaged teeth need to be removed or treated with a root canal (we refer those out!). If the pulp is still tucked in there safely, we can reshape and seal the tooth. This prevent bacteria from getting into the porous part of the tooth under the enamel, which can lead to infection. It also decreases the chance that it will break further.