February is National Pet Dental Month. Many of you have heard about this. Many actively promote it! The AVMA’s focus includes an instructional video, a photo contest, a veterinary tool kit, and more. There’s also a section designed for pet owners, describing various oral maladies and how veterinarians can help. Likewise, more suppliers are promoting the event, from food manufacturers to those marketing treats, rinses, gels, and other treatment forms.
We’re reminded that poor pet oral hygiene can lead to severe bacterial infections, resulting in diabetes, kidney disease, and heart disease (according to the American Veterinary Dental College). Increases in pet owner and veterinary awareness, plus advances in oral radiography and other technologies provide great promise, more precise diagnosis, and better prognosis.
Though this initiative is not new, one wonders how effective it is – and how effectively we’re managing it at a staff and client/patient level. What happens at the clinical level? In particular, to what degree are we leveraging staff? How confident are we that our technicians are prepared to manage screening of these cases we solicit? Can we optimize work flow for best patient and client outcomes, case management, and human resources?
Jeff Santosuosso
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