As advancements continue to be made in pet health care, new approaches in veterinary dentistry are becoming increasingly available to offer to the clients of pets in need of specialized dental attention.

Services

The types of training programs open to veterinarians include advanced dental options that apply concepts akin to those utilized in human care. The following information provides an overview of six of the types of therapy services that can be offered by a specialist in veterinary dentistry.

• Endodontic
  • Covers therapies needed that involves the pulp of the tooth, the area found inside of the tooth consisting of the nerves and blood vessels
  • Involves treating dental issues, such as:
    • Fractured teeth
    • Lost teeth
    • Abscesses
    • Abraded teeth
  • Includes performing therapeutic procedures, including:
    • Standard root canal
    • Surgical root canal
    • Direct pulp capping
    • Indirect pulp capping
    • Apexification
    • Periodontics
  • Involves treatments of periodontal disease, the most common clinical dental condition that occurs in dogs and cats.
  • Involves performing therapeutic procedures, including:
    • Oral examination
    • Dental radiograph, reading, and diagnosing
    • Dental scaling and polishing
    • Gum surgery
    • Root planing/curettage
    • Advanced periodontal surgeries, such as bone regeneration
• Orthodontics
  • Consists of therapies to correct dental and skeletal malocclusions through the use of surgery and orthodontic appliances
  • Involves identification and evaluation of issues such as:
    • Classes of occlusion
    • Facial symmetry
    • Angle of temporal mandibular joint
    • Causes of misaligned teeth
  • Includes performing therapeutic procedures, for example:
    • Proper placement of braces to correct dental malformation
    • Removal of retained primary teeth that impede tooth growth
    • Performing therapeutic procedures to provide a functional bits
    • Interceptive orthodontics
• Prosthodontics
  • Includes performing therapeutic procedures that use advanced dental methods consisting of reconstruction and implants
  • Treatments using prosthodontics provide a means of making damaged teeth stronger, for example:
    • Reduces the chance for fractures or breakage of teeth that have excessive wear
    • Eliminates or reduces the pain caused by teeth with exposed nerves and pulp
    • Lessens the need to remove a tooth that has been fractured or broken
  • Prosthodontic implants offer a way to restore the function of a tooth that is missing.
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
  • Often includes treatment of facial trauma
  • Involves therapeutic procedures used to treat, for example:
    • Tooth extractions
    • Palate defects
    • Oral tumor resection
    • Repairing complex jaw fractures
    • Jaw fracture reconstruction.
• Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology
  • Offers the ability to utilize radiographic studies and dental charting
  • Can provide advanced imaging information to help determine the best method for treating maxillofacial trauma in animals with oral tumors

Information Available to Clients

Offering clients options that focus on the care and treatment plan for their pet also requires providing information that considers the background and level of expertise of the person that will complete their pet’s dentistry procedure. General veterinarians often refer clients to a veterinary dentist for a pet’s oral health care, but many veterinarians are now completing the advanced care and technology training to be able to offer these services in-house.

If you’re interested in learning about the different types of veterinary specialties and their certification requirements , visit the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) for information. The website identifies basic details, including:

• List of Board recognized veterinary specialties and their descriptions
• Explanation of requirements for a veterinarian to become a specialist
• Links to additional information, for example:
  • The link for dentistry takes clients to the home page of the American Veterinary Dental College (AVDC) which offers information on, for example:
    • The certification program for dental specialists
    • Client tips for good pet dental care

  Having the information to provide to clients when offering advanced care and technology for their pet's dental needs is important. Contact your Covetrus representative today at 855.724.3461 to learn more.

  Sources:

  http://www.avdc.org/ownersinfo.html
  http://www.avdc.org/periodontaldisease.html
  https://www.avma.org/public/YourVet/Pages/veterinary-specialists.aspx

   

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