How to Remove Stubborn Tooth RootsNovember 20, 2015Originally published in the November 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News. Enjoyed this article? Then subscribe today! What comes to mind when you hear that dreaded crack during extraction of a firmly rooted tooth? Do colorful expletives flow from your mouth like water from a faucet? Does your heart sink deeper into your chest? I once felt this way when I broke roots during the process of extracting teeth, but over the past 18 years, I have learned to envision this complication in a different light. I encourage you to think of the breaking of a root not as an insurmountable challenge, but rather as an opportunity to retrieve the remaining root structure without the rest of the bulky tooth being in the way. This outlook is easier to embrace when you’ve learned a relatively foolproof plan to remove stubborn root tips. In this column, I’ll describe my approach. First, let’s discuss the controversial topic of what to do with root tips that are an incidental finding on dental radiographs in an apparently healthy and happy patient. The accessibility of digital dental radiography has provided …
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A Deep Look at Basics of Wound CareNovember 19, 2015Originally published in the November 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News. Enjoyed this article? Then subscribe today! Here’s the advice many veterinary specialists offer in dealing with animals’ wounds: Look deeper. While a wound itself may call for immediate attention, beneath the damaged tissue may lurk a deeper injury, or a rampant infection lying in wait in an area critical to a pet’s future mobility. Early and thorough exploration of wounds allow them to be cleaned before tissue becomes more infected or necrotic, and more importantly, before the bacteria spread system-wide, said Marije Risselada, DVM, Ph.D., Dipl. ECVS, Dipl. ACVS. “Exploring the wound — looking for trauma to underlying structures — is key in bite wounds, as the act of the fight and the motion of the dog that is biting and the one that is bitten oftentimes tear the underlying muscles, tendons, tissues, while the overlying skin is more mobile and only shows some small puncture wounds,” Dr. Risselada said. She is an assistant professor in small animal soft tissue and oncologic surgery at the
Got a spinal cord injury? Get acupuncture!November 2, 2015This past July, the National Institutes of Health released a report outlining results from a study showing how non-invasive electrical stimulation of the low back restored some function in men with complete motor paralysis.
How to Repair Non-Invasive Jaw FractureOctober 16, 2015Originally published in the October 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News. Enjoyed this article? Then subscribe today! I recently had the opportunity to teach at the AOVET craniomaxillofacial trauma and reconstruction course in Las Vegas. This is one of my favorite CE courses because it brings together veterinary dentists, veterinary surgeons, seasoned general practitioners and a human oral and maxillofacial surgeon to discuss approaches to various maxillofacial trauma cases. We all come away from the weekend realizing there is more than one way to repair a jaw fracture. The key is having multiple tools in your armamentarium. In this article, we’ll discuss one of various methods. Mandibular fractures in dogs and cats are most commonly due to fights with other dogs and cats, motor vehicle trauma and falls from a height. However, periodontal or endodontic disease can result in a pathologic mandibular fracture. Aggressive cancers also can cause pathologic mandibular fractures, but these are much less common than pathologic fractures due to perio/endo bone loss. Dogs usually fracture their mandibles through the …
The latest on cannabis and hemp for petsSeptember 29, 2015While sales staffs in marijuana dispensaries seem to serve as de facto guides to the medicinal preparations, most workers at the counter possess neither a medical or veterinary background nor license to practice.
A Veterinary Practitioner's Guide to Dental BursSeptember 22, 2015Originally published in the September 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News. When it comes to extraction of firmly rooted teeth in dogs and cats, the high-speed hand piece is the most efficient tool for the job. It is used to remove bone lateral to the roots and to section multirooted teeth so that individual crown-root segments may be removed as if they were single-rooted teeth. The high-speed hand piece is driven by air and relies on revolutions per minute (RPM) to accomplish its job. It typically runs at 200,000 to 400,000 RPM. Because the hand piece relies on RPM and not torque, the tool is most efficient when used with a light touch and with the foot pedal pushed to the floor. Pressing too hard will result in binding of the bur and that unpleasant smell of burned hard tissue. Eye and face protection should be used at all times when using burs. The high-speed hand piece is held with a modified pen grasp (Figure 1), which provides the best control over the tiny burs placed in the head of the hand piece. The burs are secured with a push-button mechanism, a locking …
Essential Oils for Pets?September 21, 2015Whiskey is a tough dog. Born in Cairo in 2010, he was taken from his mother when he was 4- or 5-weeks old. He and brothers and sisters were taken to a pet store the size of a supply closet, in a 115-degree heat wave, with no windows or air conditioning. Instead of mother’s milk, he was fed processed cheese and bologna of questionable provenance by the teenaged boys charged with running the store for the absent owner. Immediately after his adoption at about 6-weeks-old, he became seriously ill with a respiratory infection that threatened his tiny, short life. But once he pulled through, he relatively experienced any health problems. In Egypt, where garbage is dumped directly on the surface of the street each day for collection, fleas and parasites were a constant hazard, but he was a hardy dog and could handle even the harsh Ukrainian generic pesticide sold in Egyptian pet stores as flea medicine. He lived in Egypt through the 2011 revolution, then moved to Geneva, Switzerland, where winter walks were more like ice skating. When he relocated to the Oregon high desert, there was rarely any need for flea prevention. But when visiting with dogs from the warmer, …
Why Leptospirosis is an Increasing ThreatAugust 31, 2015Originally published in the August 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News. Leptospirosis is being seen in dogs in more and more places across the U.S. The bacterial disease presents with non-specific symptoms such as lethargy, lack of appetite, changes in urination frequency and vomiting. “We see leptospirosis every week,” said Richard Goldstein, DVM, chief of medicine at the Animal Medical Center in New York City. The hospital is a referral center for dogs from the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area, including “dogs who never leave Manhattan.” The disease is caused by a corkscrew-shaped bacterium called Leptospira interrogans. Signs of leptospirosis in dogs vary depending on the infecting strain, the geographic area in which it was transmitted and the host immune response. Some dogs never exhibit symptoms, while others show mild illness and still others develop severe illness, which can result in liver or kidney disease. “Since 2013 in Florida, we have seen a 10-fold increase,” explains Carsten Bandt, DVM, Dipl. ACVECC, assistant professor of Emergency Medicine and Critical Care at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. “Leptospirosis is made up of …
Is the over-reliance on psychotropic drugs affecting veterinary medicine?August 31, 2015The reflexive reach for drugs to treat anxiety, depression and mental health disorder is worsening. Writing a prescription for a psychotropic drug is quick and painless for the practitioner; health insurance reimbursements are higher and easier to obtain.
How to Provide Better Pain Control Around SurgeryAugust 12, 2015Originally published in the August 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News. Subscribe today! American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) and the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) have recently published the "2015 AAHA/AAFP Pain Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats." The entire article is easily found online (for free) to any interested reader. Full disclosure: What follows is not a summary of the AAHA and AAFP article, but a review of a few key points made by the authors as they relate to perioperative pain control. In addition, we interviewed the lead author, Dr. Mark Epstein. NSAIDs NSAIDs are a mainstay for chronic-pain management, as well as for perioperative use. However, "preexisting elevated liver enzymes are not a risk factor." The guidelines state that "the importance of maintaining a normotensive state during anesthesia is considered paramount when utilizing preoperative NSAIDs." Studies have shown that NSAIDs are more effective when given prior to surgery (concept of preemptive analgesia), but if IV …
