Marketing dentistry in small animal practice (Proceedings)

Veterinary Dentistry and Oral Surgery has come a long way in the last fifteen years. There are many resources today to assist you in your quest for dental knowledge. The Journal of Veterinary Dentistry serves as the official publication for the American Veterinary Dental Society, the Academy of Veterinary Dentistry, the American College of Veterinary Dentistry, plus the European, Brazilian, British, Canadian and Japanese Veterinary Dental Societies and is the predominant journal for this discipline.

Successful small animal practitioners rely on the ability to delegate duties to well trained staff. Veterinary dentistry is the perfect service to strengthen your practice by fully utilizing the abilities of well trained veterinary technicians. Moreover, technicians are the key to success in veterinary dentistry, but it is the veterinarian's responsibility to demonstrate the importance of the service.

Dentistry is a very young specialty in Veterinary Medicine. Many practitioners had little or no formal training in dentistry. Consequently, the service often takes on a reputation of being less important than surgery even though it is primarily a surgical discipline. The presumed lower level of importance often filters down to the staff and results in less than adequate maintenance of the dental equipment. A simple change to dental pack preparation can elevate the level of importance within a practice. Having a well maintained and prepared pack that contains everything needed to clean, polish, examine and chart the mouth is a huge time saver. The value of the service to the practice, to the client and the patient is a Win:Win:Win situation. The initial impression is established with the first visit of the client and patient to the practice...make it positive.

As stated above, the role of the technician is paramount. Other than the pre-anesthetic exam and the unconscious oral examination, the remainder of prophylactic dental care, including intraoral radiography, is performed by the veterinary technician. Delegation allows you to be a productive doctor.

As the patient ages, dental disease increases. It is important to provide estimates for problems found during the conscious oral exam, but always update the client as additional problems are uncovered during the unconscious exam and radiographs have been evaluated.. Happy clients are well informed clients! As in all aspects of business/life, communication cannot be over-emphasized.

The medical record is critical in complying with licensing requirements and toward continuity of patient care. The dental record can be very easily prepared by using "Four-handed Charting", using AVDC abbreviations and the modified Triadan system. The doctor examines all teeth using a periodontal probe and explorer reciting any abnormalities. All oral structures such as tonsils, pharynx, tongue, soft and hard palate are observed and/or palpated. The oral medical record can be extremely accurate but quick to prepare. Excellent examples for dental charts and symbols are listed in Veterinary Dental Techniques for the small animal practitioner by Holmstrom, Eisner and Frost.

Dental care is the perfect service to provide in a Wellness Plan. Reminders sent to clients need to include dental health maintenance. Coordinating the annual physical examination with laboratory analyses is the perfect way to maximize dentistry in your practice.