Behind the scenes
Why we X-ray every mouth before we take a tooth out
Dr. Meera Krishnan · 21 Jul 2026 · 5 min read
You cannot see two thirds of a tooth. Extracting on a hunch is how a healthy root gets pulled.
Two thirds of a tooth is below the gum line. What you can see tells you almost nothing about what is happening at the root.
What the film changes
Roughly a third of the teeth that look sound on the surface show disease on the radiograph, and a similar share of teeth that look hopeless turn out to be worth saving.
We photograph before and after, and both go in your patient file.