UC Davis veterinary hospital debuts Stomatitis Clinic

The UC Davis veterinary hospital announced that its Dentistry and Oral Surgery Service (DOSS) is opening a monthly Stomatitis Clinic. According to a university release,¹ this will improve care for patients with this rampant oral disease and offer cutting-edge diagnostic and therapeutic options.

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UC Davis soft launched the services in July and August and on September 8, 2022 will officially debut a 2-day “stomatitis only” receiving and treatment schedule. DOSS will continue to reserve 2 days each month exclusively to stomatitis patients.

Stomatitis can be debilitating to both dogs and cats and is mainly poorly to incompletely defined. Currently, none of the available treatment methods are fully effective.¹ However, “UC Davis is considered the leader in feline chronic gingivostomatitis (FCGS) research,” according to Maria Soltero-Rivera, DVM, DAVDC, who will lead the clinic. “The creation of a focused clinic, for cats and dogs, is the next step in the natural progression of our groundbreaking work on the disease.”

Throughout the last 10 years, DOSS has been making advancements in research surrounding FCGs, including launching a novel clinical trial utilizing stem cell therapy. As success of the trial grew (72% of cats treated experienced positive results), it evolved into various nationwide trials at multiple clinics and universities. The final product for an accepted protocol of FCGS treatment is getting closer to FDA approval.¹

Because stomatitis negatively affects an animal’s quality of life, patients with the disease are deemed a high priority. Thus, the allotted time the Stomatitis Clinic offers may be increased to more than 2 days a month if there is such demand. What’s more, severe stomatitis cases will still be able to be seen by the service on an urgent basis during additional days of the month.

“One of the goals of this dedicated clinic is for it to ease the burden of pet owners who are struggling with this terrible disease and who are finding it difficult to schedule appointments,” said Soltero-Rivera.¹

The Stomatitis Clinic will also serve as a platform for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary studies, utilizing next generation and regenerative technologies. It will act as a possible enrollment platform for current and future clinical trials such as the FCGS stem cell therapy, and evaluation of biomarkers that will predict patient response to therapy.

“We hope that clients of the clinic will be excited that their pet is not only getting groundbreaking treatment for this debilitating disease, but that they are also helping to pave the way toward a cure,” added Soltero-Rivera.¹

Reference

Warren R. UC Davis veterinary hospital opens Stomatitis Clinic. News release. UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. August 15, 2022. Accessed August 15, 2022. https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/news/uc-davis-veterinary-hospital-opens-stomatitis-clinic