The above picture shows a minimal accumulation of tartar with normal and healthy appearing gingival tissue. The same tooth under dental X-Rays show a different severe stage 4 advanced periodontal disease.

WHY WE RECOMMEND DENTAL X-RAYS WITH EVERY DENTAL PROCEDURE?

The point to be made with the above two pictures are that periodontal disease absolutely cannot be properly or fully appreciated in a conscious dog or cat because the problem is located below the gingiva, out of sight. As an example,  the photo of a four-year-old Jack Russell Terrier, there is at least one tooth with end-stage periodontal disease that required extraction. That is despite the fact that all the teeth in the photo appear to have minimal calculus accumulation and the gingival tissue in the photo all looks healthy and normal.

 In the radiograph below (Figure 2) we see the left maxillary fourth premolar (208). The linear density is a soft, rubber probe (gutta percha point) placed into the periodontal pocket around the mesio-palatal root of this tooth (208). The probe extends about 85% of the length of the palatal root and so we have about 85% attachment loss. That is well beyond end-stage periodontal disease (Stage IV) There is also almost total bone loss around the left maxillary second molar to the far right (210).