The key to providing high-quality oral care is having the knowledge and skills to recommend and deliver appropriate treatment, but without the proper equipment, your ability to perform basic dental procedures, such as periodontal prophylaxis and dental extraction, is compromised.

The consequences of poor dental health go way beyond bad breath.

Patients with periodontal disease, the most common disease in dogs, suffer from progressive inflammation and destruction of the tissues supporting the teeth.

The idea of orthodontic correction for dogs frequently elicits snickers and causes uninformed eyes to roll.

Feline gingivostomatitis is probably the most frustrating oral disease seen in veterinary practice. Cats with this chronic, painful inflammatory disease can be severely compromised, and medical treatment can cause adverse effects.

In May, I explained how to perform a nonsurgical extraction on single-rooted teeth including the incisors, first premolars, deciduous canines, and mandibular third molars. A surgical approach is indicated to extract canines, certain large incisors, and multirooted teeth and to retrieve root tips.

A dental extraction should be considered an end-stage procedure. When teeth are salvageable, we can go to great lengths to avoid extraction. Unfortunately, in many cases extraction is advisable and necessary.

Tooth resorption is the most common dental problem in cats, with studies worldwide showing a prevalence rate (in cats presented for dental problems) of up to 75%.

Chronic ulcerative paradental stomatitis (CUPS) is a painful condition in dogs that is also known as ulcerative stomatitis, idiopathic stomatitis, and lymphocytic-plasmacytic stomatitis.