Dental radiography reveals significant disease that is completely invisible to visual examination — making it the single most important diagnostic tool for complete feline dental assessment.
Dental radiography welfare significance in cats is difficult to overstate. Visual dental examination, however thorough, misses the majority of dental pathology that occurs below the gumline. A tooth that appears intact visually may have complete root resorption, a draining abscess, or surrounding bone loss causing significant pain. Without radiography, these conditions go undetected and untreated for months or years. Choosing veterinary practices with dental radiography capability and requesting its use at dental assessments is therefore a direct welfare intervention — ensuring that dental disease is identified and treated rather than allowed to cause silent chronic suffering.