Re: Fairly basic dental questions for the dentists

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 19:06:08 GMT

[quote user="Suzanne Kelly"]1) Antibiotics. I know this was discussed before, but I'm still a bit confused. For periodontal treatment and extractions, am I right in saying antibiotics are not indicated even for the most manky mouth? How about dogs with heart murmurs? Cats with nasty gingivostomatitis? Also if the proverbial hits the fan and you have a root fragment that you can't get? When are antibiotics indicated?[/quote]

Very rarely. Perhaps if you've made a hash of an extraction with lots of soft tissue trauma.

[quote user="Suzanne Kelly"]2) Scaling. Is it ok to use powered scalers below the gumline if using a specially designed tip? Is hand scaling and curretting better than using a power scaler?[/quote]

Below the gumline is where you have to treat. Above it – well , more than 2 millimetres above it – is just cosmetic. So you must have a properly suitable scaler. I hold no shares in the company, but I will say yet again that you should get a iM3 42-12.

For most pockets, in my opinion, Periodontal Bacteriocidal Ultrasonc Debridement is the bee's knees. Hand root-planing has its place, but only in particular and selected instances. Some veterinary dentists may disagree, i don't know.

[quote user="Suzanne Kelly"]3) Polishing. Has fallen out of favour with some dentists. Should we still be polishing and using prophy paste?[/quote]

There's lots of discussion about this. We devoted a whole issue of BVDA Journal to it. Personally I still firmly favour polishing. Certainly all would agree that if you do polish, you must do it carefully: with minimum effective speed, with minimum effective pressure,for minimum effective time, with due attention to cooling and not too coarse a paste.

Re: Fairly basic dental questions for the dentists

Bob Russell — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 11:15:40 GMT

No to antibiotics unless there is clear evidence of severe osteomyelitis. Sadly I don't always follow this rule but try to!

Scaling - under the gum line as long as there is cooling to the tip. We use a titan sonic scaler most of the time so this is less of an issue.

Still polish!

Over to the experts!