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Oral Health and the Veterinary Team: Working Together for Pet Wellness typgraphy
Minimalist vector image of vet holding dental chart
Oral Health
and the Veterinary Team
Working Together for Wellness

By Kara M. Burns, MS, MEd, LVT, VTS (Nutrition)

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very individual working in a veterinary hospital is part of the veterinary team, and all members of the team are passionate about their specific role and how that role benefits the pet. Ensuring the health of the pet involves a team approach by working together to care for the pet and identify and alleviate potential health issues.

Oral health is a place where the entire veterinary team can make a significant positive impact on pet health. The oral cavity is constantly inundated by bacteria and provides the perfect environment for microbial growth. Dental disease causes pain and discomfort, and the associated disease processes may lead to systemic issues.1 Veterinary care team members know that animals require dental care to maintain oral and overall health; however, dental health is seldom top-of-mind for pet owners.

Additionally, many animals hide pain and obviously cannot tell the caregiver where it hurts. Oral malodor, changes in eating behavior and drooling are often accepted as “normal behavior” in pets by their owners. Therefore, standard procedures guiding the efficient operation of every veterinary team should always incorporate protocols for evaluating oral health whenever possible due to the importance of dental health to the overall wellbeing of the pet.

A tool is now available that is extremely beneficial in identifying infection in the oral cavity. A thiol test is a tool that can be used on awake animals in the exam room. Simply slide the thiol test strip along the upper gumline of every canine or feline pet patient during the exam—ideally, at every wellness exam and whenever there is the opportunity to assess the oral health of the dog or cat. If the strip changes color to any shade of yellow, infection is present, and this color-changed strip will command the attention of the pet owner as well as the veterinarian. If there is no color change, the patient’s medical record can be updated with the result, and the pet owner should be encouraged to maintain the great work done to keep their pet’s mouth healthy and to continue to follow up with the veterinarian.

A thiol test powerfully enables a whole-team approach to oral health, especially because the test can be administered by a veterinary technician or veterinary nurse and then interpreted by the veterinarian. This test provides a fast, objective assessment of the pet’s periodontal health that has been proven to enhance pet owner adherence to treatment recommendations.2

Whenever the test changes color, this is where the whole veterinary team can shine by explaining to the pet owner how attending to oral health needs now (such as a periodontal infection that needs immediate treatment) can prevent problems down the road for the pet. Veterinary technicians and veterinary nurses can take time to explain this thoroughly, both before and after the veterinarian makes a treatment recommendation. The rest of the veterinary team can use encouraging positive reinforcement to be consistent in emphasizing the importance of oral health and facilitating every aspect of follow-up, including scheduling the next appointment.

This dental health example shows the importance of veterinary teams working together effectively for the benefit of their patients. Companion animals’ oral health needs are a critically important aspect of their health care and essential to maintaining every animal’s wellbeing.

All members of the veterinary team are passionate about the needs of the pet, so working together to address oral health issues is an opportunity for the team to do what they are uniquely positioned to do: Help the pet owner understand and address their beloved family member’s needs so they can live a healthy and joyful life.

References
  1. Burns, KM. The Importance of Dental Homecare in the Management of Periodontal Disease. The NAVTA Journal. December 2019/January 2020. Pp. 9-16.
  2. Goldstein G, Chapman A, Herzog L, et al. Routine use of a thiol-detection test in every wellness examination increased practice dental revenues and enhanced client compliance with dental recommendations in veterinary general practice clinics. J Vet Sci Technol. 2016;7(2):312.
    Kara Burns with 2 dogs
    Kara Burns MS, MEd, LVT, VTS (Nutrition), VTS-H (Internal Medicine, Dentistry) is Editor in Chief of Today’s Veterinary Nurse. Kara is founder and president of the Academy of Veterinary Nutrition Technicians and is past president of NAVTA, the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America. She has authored numerous articles and textbook chapters and is an internationally invited speaker, presenting on topics including leadership and technician utilization. Kara currently serves as clinical advisor and key opinion leader for PDX BIOTECH, makers of the OraStripdx thiol test (orastripdx.com).
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