What is a dental? Really?
I mean, pet owners ring us up every day for the price of a dental, just like they are asking the price for a bottle of milk.
The answer to this very important question will be different depending on who you ask.
So let's look at what pet owners, vet and, most importantly, our pets may think.
The pet owner - what is a dental?
There are many subgroups of pet owners
There are some who realise that it takes skill and training to thoroughly assess the mouth, identify disease and treat it. These pet owners will actually seek out those vets in their community who are genuinely interested in dental work, and who have a good reputation for doing this.
There are some who just think it is clicking tartar of the teeth. Many of these pets often will get their teeth cleaned at the groomers, or at the cheapest grade 2 dental place the pet owner can find. To them, its all the same.
And there are those who think it is just a money making scam of vets. I remember a journalist a few years back saying exactly this in a main stream newspaper. These pet owners are surprised that their pet actually needs a dental procedure, and when they do see the tartar, have an expectation that the vet will just click it off in the consult itself.
The vet - what is a dental?
Like pet owners, there are subgroups.We are not all the same, and we don't all do the same thing.
There are vets who take dental work seriously, who, like me, have invested time and money into quality equipment, instruments and especially training. We try to practice to as high a standard as we can. We do the work ourselves, or delegate it to trained veterinary staff.
We recognise that dental disease is an Animal Welfare issue, and look at the Global Dental Guidelines as a tool that recognises this.
There are vets who train their vet nurses or even animal attendants to do the teeth cleaning for them. Few of these nurses receive formal training, but it is available. I once received an application for a trainee nurse position who proudly said that they did extractions during their school work experience. That was an eye opener.
There are no doubt exceptional vet nurses who do an amazing job, as there are veterinarians who do not. My point here, is that the pet owner needs to be told the truth on who is actually doing the procedure on their pet.
The pet - what is a dental?
The pet is going to hope that if they are going to be subjected to an anaesthetic and an invasion of their privacy and to be taken away from their home whilst all of this is happening, that the person that is going to be doing all of that is one of those vets who has invested time and money into their skill.
They are hoping that the person is going to do the best job that they can. Every time.
To the pet, the whole idea of the procedure is to ensure that any disease is identified in the mouth and fixed. They want a mouth that doesn't hurt any more, even if they are not showing obvious external signs of pain.
To the pet, it is simple. They live for the moment.
They just want a job well done, by good people, who actually know what they are doing.
What is it that we do?
My guess is that is what you were expecting this entire blog post to be on - the one that vets, including myself, have written in the past.
You expected us to write about the care we take, the anaesthetic, the way we assess each individual patient.
The personalised anaesthetic plan and attention we give to each pet under our care that day, and especially in the follow up - this is more crucial in my view than anything else.
The thorough oral cavity assessment, looking at not just the teeth, but the head shape, tonsils, tongue, under the tongue, back of throat,
You expected me to write about our thorough dental chart, and how we take and review the full mouth dental radiographs, that are done on each and every dental case.
My guess you also expected to read about how we were the first in the Illawarra to do dental radiographs, first with good old fashioned film, to then progress to digital in 2009. The experience we have just by doing it for so long, and having assessed so many cases during that time, you can't learn in a textbook.
Experience is what you can't buy.
You expected to strut my chest out, like others, and say that we are the best.
Nah, I am not going to write stuff like that.
All I am going to say is that we do try to practice to a high standard, that we are not perfect, but we do try to do the best each and every time.
I love my pets, as many of them love me. Keeping them happy and healthy is what all of us at Russell Vale Animal Clinic have devoted our lives to.
Please be kind to your pet's vet.
