1. Veterinary Dentistry
CTVT: Chapter 34
DRG:

2. Student Objectives Recognize a patient’s overall dental health status
Perform routine dental prophylaxis safely and efficiently
Recognize, describe, and use common dental instruments
Understand client education regarding home care
Prepare to be the dental technician senior term
Prepare for VTNE

3. Why is Veterinary Dentistry Important?
Dental disease can lead to:
Anorexia
Chronic pain syndromes
Organ disease
American Veterinary Dental College
Organization recognized by the American Board of Veterinary Specialties of the American Veterinary Medical Association
Board Certified Veterinary Dentists

4. Veterinary Dental Organizations
Opportunities for advanced training in dentistry:
NAVTA responsible for governing and overseeing Veterinary Technician Specialists (VTS).
Examples: Dentistry, anesthesia, emergency and critical care, internal medicine, behavior, zoo, etc.
Academy of Veterinary Dental Technicians (AVDT) credentials LVTs as specialists in dentistry
Requires 3000 hours experience then…secure a mentor, maintain case logs, write case reports, pass a specialty exam, and attend extra CE courses.
See for further info.

5. Why is it exciting?!

6. Legal Aspects
The level of dental care that a veterinary technician may provide varies from state to state.
The American Veterinary Dental College (AVDC) considers it appropriate for the veterinarian to delegate maintenance dental care and certain dental tasks to LVTs.
Texas Administrative Code: Chapter 573 Rule 19
(d) In dogs and cats, a licensed veterinary technician under direct or immediate supervision of a veterinarian may extract loose teeth or dental fragments with minimal periodontal attachments by hand and without the use of an elevator.

7. Dental Tasks for Veterinary Technicians
Oral examination and charting
Professional dental cleaning
Treatment and preventative
Taking and developing dental radiographs
Taking impressions and making models
Performing nonsurgical, subgingival root planning
Client education
Home care and prevention

8. History and Extraoral Examination
Dental procedures require general anesthesia
Before animal is anesthetized:
Obtain a proper history
Ask about general medical info, medications, nutrition/treats, toys, etc.
Perform an extraoral exam
Palpate muscles of the face
Retropulse the eyelids
Look for symmetric depth and firmness
Look for ocular and nasal discharge
Palpate mandibular salivary glands
Palpate submandibular lymph nodes

9. Intraoral Examination- Awake
The entire mouth should be evaluated, however we do only a quick exam while awake:
Access patient’s occlusion
Check for retained deciduous teeth or missing teeth
Evaluate overall appearance of soft tissue
Goal is to inform owner of the
procedure their pet needs and give
an estimate of cost.

11. Intraoral Examination- Anesthetized
Once anesthetized, a more thorough exam can be done:
1. Soft tissue
Mucosa- should be pink or pigmented; no lesions seen
Pharynx- evaluate for inflammation/neoplasia/lesions
Tongue- check for lesions

12. Know What’s Normal! Hard palate- covered in ________
Examine closely in _______________ breeds
________ ________ - bump that is midline, caudal to maxillary incisors
Two salivary ducts on quadrants 1 &2
Bumps buccal to maxillary 4th PM and 1st M

13. Intraoral Examination- Anesthetized
2. Teeth
Number, fractures, mobility, etc
3. Periodontium
Inflammation, periodontal pockets, bone loss, etc.
*Radiographs are often necessary
to access the complete oral health
status

15. The Periodontum The periodontum is the area that surrounds the tooth.
Purpose: to attach the tooth to the jaw and provide support, & resistance to normal, functional forces.

16. The Periodontum 1. Gingiva = gum tissue surrounding teeth
Healthy gingiva can be pink or pigmented
The margin lies closely against the crown of the tooth
The gingival _________ is the shallow groove between the tooth and the gingiva.
Normal depth is _______ in canines; up to ______ in felines
Called a ____________ _________ when deeper.

17. The Periodontium
2. Cementum is a bone-like tissue that covers the root surface.
It is stronger than bone but not as strong as enamel.
It is capable of repairing itself.
3. Alveolar bone forms the tooth socket.
Blood vessels and nerves run through the alveolar bone
4. Periodontal __________ attaches cementum to the alveolar bone.