Veterinary Dentistry and your Practice...YES .. it really is worth it!

Not convinced you should spend the time and effort developing a successful dentistry program for your veterinary practice?

A survey in 2013 of 200 vets showed the following statistics with regards to veterinary dentistry

•  98% offered dental services
•  80% of vets achieved between 1 and 10% of gross income from dentistry
•  15% of vets achieved between 11 and 15% of gross income from dentistry
•   5% of vets achieved 15 to 20% of gross income from dentistry

Today, most practices should aim for greater than 10% of practice gross income from dentistry (direct) i.e. $350,000 gross 10% or $35,000 dentistry or 3 “prophies” ($250 ea.) per week

A Iams Gallup Phone Survey of 1000 pet owners in 2013 found;

~ 63% of pet owners have never had their pets' teeth professionally cleaned.

 ~ Of the 22% of pet owners who ever brush their pets' teeth

• Only 1 in 10 brush their pet's teeth daily
• 4 in 10 brush their pet's teeth weekly
• 1 in 5 say they brush their pet's teeth only a few times a year.

When you look at these numbers and these statistics, don’t you see a HUGE opportunity for your practice?

Veterinary dentistry is an exacting discipline, requiring skill, patience and special equipment. In spite of the ‘stats’ above, one might reasonably ask, “Should we bother?”

The most important reason that we should answer "YES - we should bother" is that our patients need proper dental care to maximize both the quality and quantity of life.

The second reason is that, by happy coincidence, veterinary dentistry can be quite profitable for the practice.

Therefore, investments in equipment and training are rapidly recouped. So it makes very good medical sense as well as making good business sense.

The prevalence of treatable dental disease is staggering when you know what to look for and how to recognize lesions. Various sources indicate that 60 to 90% of adult dogs have periodontal disease to a degree that necessitates treatment. A similar proportion of the feline population is also affected. A study at the Animal Medical Centre found that of cats presented for dental cleaning, 65% had at least one 'neck lesion' requiring attention. There are also fractured and traumatized teeth, orthodontic problems, oral tumours and a number of other conditions waiting to be diagnosed.

So now really is the ideal time in which to get your whole Team involved in developing a  Dental Program for your practice and getting it up and running.

The end result is that you’ll be busier (and more profitable to boot), you’ll have healthier and happier pets (we all know how bad a tooth-ache is) and your clients will be happier and more bonded to your practice.

For more information to help you develop a Dental Program for your veterinary practice visit the Vetanswers Blog Category: Festival of ALL Things Dental where you'll find over 30 blog posts on a whole range of dental topics.