Dental radiography is essential for accurate diagnosis of feline dental disease. Without X-rays, significant pathology — especially tooth resorption and root disease — is routinely missed.
Dental radiology is a welfare-critical component of feline dental care that is still not universally practiced. A dental procedure that involves scaling and polishing visible surfaces without radiographic assessment may miss the majority of painful pathology present — particularly tooth resorption, which begins invisibly at the tooth root and causes severe pain by the time it is clinically apparent. The welfare consequence of incomplete dental assessment is cats who leave the dental procedure apparently "clean" but who continue living with undiagnosed, untreated oral pain. Full-mouth radiography during every dental procedure under anaesthesia is the welfare standard that every cat deserves.