The Southwest Virginia Sleep Center, an addition to Henritze Dental Group, is one of the first of its kind in the region to offer a combined dental officer and sleep center under one roof.

Walker the labrador retriever received a root canal in preparation for his work as a Saint Francis Service Dog. The procedure is rare, but Saint Francis Service Dogs executive director Caball Youell said it was essential to Walker’s future career. Instead, Dr. Grant Throckmorton of Wythe Family Dentistry drove an hour from Wytheville to operate on Walker in Roanoke. “The tooth is about twice as long as you’ll ever see a human tooth," Throckmorton said. Some of my instruments don’t even work on dog teeth.”The procedure went well, and Throckmorton finished the job in about an hour.