Some teeth don’t follow directions well….

​Since our dental radiograph system was installed the middle of 2020, we have found some crazy abnormalities, but this one tops the list!  When animals are in for routine spay/neuter, we take the opportunity while they are asleep to do a count to see if all their teeth are accounted for.  If any teeth are missing, we recommend dental radiographs to see if they are truly missing or if they are hiding under the gum line.  This tooth clearly did not take directions well as it was coming in sideways!!  Without dental radiographs we would never have know that this tooth was present. 
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Unerupted teeth that are hiding under the gumline can, in some cases, cause a serious concern as they can form a cyst around the crown of the tooth and as that cyst continues to grow, it will expand into other teeth and can even lead to a fractured jaw.  In this case, a referral to a veterinary dentist was made and the tooth was successfully removed. 

FUN FACT:  Did you know that as adults, cats have 30 teeth and dogs have 42 teeth