Lucy is an 8-year-old, female-spayed, Dachshund. One of her teeth appeared diseased so we planned to x-ray the tooth while she was anesthetized to have her teeth cleaned. After she was asleep we determined that the adjacent tooth, although it looked perfectly normal, seemed slightly unstable. The x-ray revealed that there was a complete fracture of the tooth separating the crown from the root.

    Although Lucy never complained, this must have been very painful for her, especially when she was eating. If it were not for the dental x-rays, we would have not been able to make the diagnosis.

    The two diseased teeth were extracted, and Lucy is doing well. This case is a reminder to us that our patients often endure painful dental disease without showing overt signs. Modern technology like our digital dental x-ray system can help us improve our patient’s quality of life.