Using a full set of dental radiology images

Why is it important to view multiple radiographic images in veterinary dentistry? Naomi Hoyer, DVM, DAVDC, an associate professor of dentistry and oral surgery at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, provided insight about using a full set of x-rays in a continuing education (CE) session at the 2026 Veterinary Meeting & Expo (VMX) in Orlando, Florida. Hoyer also copresented a master class alongside Benita Altier, LVT, VTS (Dentistry), owner of Pawsitive Dental Education, on how to professionally interpret dental radiographs, as well as several more CE sessions that focused on veterinary dentistry.

In an interview with dvm360 at VMX, Hoyer discussed the importance of taking multiple dental radiographs for a more in-depth view of a patient’s mouth. In this video, she also discusses what dental radiologists commonly look for in these images.

RELATED VIDEO: Examining dental radiographs

The following is a transcript of the video, lightly edited for clarity:

Naomi Hoyer, DVM, DAVDC: Full mouth radiographs really are the best way to evaluate a patient's dental health because most of our dog and cat patients cannot tell us, “This is where the pain is.” Having a complete set of dental radiographs is really critical when we're evaluating pain. Sometimes you'll hear people advocating…just to take an x-ray of the tooth you're concerned about. The problem is [that] sometimes the tooth looks totally normal on the outside. We can't tell until we look at the tooth on the inside that there was even a problem.

There's so much anatomy that we see on the dental radiograph: mental foramina, for example, the little holes in the mandibles where the blood vessels come out of the sinuses, the nasal cavity, mandibular canal. All of those things are going to show up on your dental radiographs, and it's important to note what those look like so you know not to overinterpret those findings.

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