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Many people are afraid of the dentist. But are you apprehensive about being the dentist?
If so, you’re certainly not alone.
For many veterinarians and veterinary nurses, dentistry can feel like one of the most challenging areas of clinical practice. Whether it’s recognising the extent of dental disease, planning treatment or performing extractions, it’s a discipline that often feels technically demanding and overwhelming.
Yet dentistry is also one of the most rewarding areas of veterinary medicine.
So why does it feel so intimidating?
One of the reasons dentistry is so unique is that teeth are unlike any other tissue in the body.
Protected by enamel, which is made up of approximately 96% mineral, teeth are incredibly strong. Enamel is the hardest substance in the body, allowing teeth to withstand years of chewing, biting and grinding.
Despite this remarkable strength, teeth have one major weakness.
Unlike skin, bone and many other tissues, they have virtually no ability to repair themselves. That’s why prevention, early diagnosis and timely treatment are so important in veterinary dentistry.
Once a tooth is damaged through trauma or disease, the body cannot heal it. Instead, the damage progresses unless appropriate treatment is provided.
This inability to heal is what makes veterinary dentistry so important. Protecting teeth before irreversible damage occurs is far easier than trying to manage advanced disease later.
Periodontal Disease is progressive.
Unlike many medical conditions that may remain relatively stable for a period, oral disease generally becomes more difficult to manage the longer it is left untreated.
Early plaque accumulation can progress to gingivitis and periodontitis. As disease advances, treatment often becomes more technically demanding and patients experience increasing discomfort.
The challenge is that animals rarely show obvious signs of oral pain until disease is well advanced. The signs, often subtle changes in behaviour, go undiscovered by pet owners and disease is often an incidental finding during a routine veterinary consultation.
As veterinary professionals, this places us in a unique position. We are often responsible for recognising dental disease long before owners realise there is a problem.
The earlier disease is identified, the greater the opportunity to preserve oral health and improve long-term patient welfare.
If dentistry feels more difficult than other areas of veterinary medicine, there is a good reason.
Historically, veterinary dentistry has received relatively little attention within undergraduate veterinary education compared with many other disciplines.
Yet once in practice, clinicians quickly discover just how common dental disease really is.
Around 80-90% of veterinary patients have some degree of Periodontal Disease, making it one of the most common conditions seen in general practice. Despite this, dentistry has traditionally represented only a relatively small proportion of practice income, suggesting that many opportunities to diagnose and treat Periodontal Disease are still being missed.
It’s hardly surprising, then, that many veterinary professionals feel underprepared.
Without regular exposure or structured training, dentistry can become something that’s easy to postpone until “later” – ironically, the very thing that often makes treatment more complex.
The encouraging news is that confidence in veterinary dentistry isn’t something you’re expected to have from the day you graduate.
Like surgery, diagnostic imaging or ultrasonography, dentistry is a practical discipline that develops through education, experience and repetition.
Every oral examination improves your ability to recognise disease.
Every dental procedure builds practical skills.
Every new concept makes the next case feel a little less daunting.
Over time, procedures that once seemed technically demanding become familiar, allowing you to focus less on the process itself and more on achieving the best outcome for your patient.
It’s easy to focus on the challenges of dentistry.
The steep learning curve.
The unfamiliar equipment.
The technical procedures.
But there is another side to veterinary dentistry.
Helping an animal eat comfortably again, relieving chronic pain, preventing future disease and restoring oral health can be enormously satisfying.
As confidence grows, many veterinary professionals discover that dentistry becomes one of the most fulfilling parts of their work.
Rather than something to avoid, it becomes an opportunity to make a genuine difference to a patient’s quality of life.
No one becomes confident in veterinary dentistry overnight.
Confidence develops by understanding the fundamentals, building practical skills and continuing to learn.
That’s exactly what this series is designed to support.
Throughout the iM3 Building Confidence in Veterinary Dentistry series, we’ll break veterinary dentistry into practical, manageable topics to help you build knowledge, develop confidence and feel more comfortable managing dental disease in everyday practice.
Because better dentistry doesn’t begin with more complicated procedures.
It begins with greater confidence.
Next in the series: Essential Veterinary Dental Equipment: What Every Practice Needs.
For over 15 years Maggie has worked in small animal general practice and we’re sure she’s a familiar face to many in the industry. Her passion for dentistry led to her obtaining the Diploma of Veterinary Nursing (Dental) and the Veterinary Technician Specialty VTS (Dentistry). Maggie has experience in General Practice Dentistry as well as in Specialty practice having conducted nurse dental clinics and assisting in both general and advanced specialty procedures. As an experienced and qualified trainer, Maggie has provided training in dentistry to veterinary teams both domestically and internationally and brings her contagious passion for dentistry to her role at iM3 in providing training and support to our clients.
Connect with Maggie:
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