Re: Veterinary Dentistry

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:18:42 GMT

I've just thought of this.

Buy your own stuff. Do not in any circumstances let anyone else use your luxators, forceps, curettes, needleholders, etc. You may have to keep them under lock and key or even take them home at night.

Re: Veterinary Dentistry

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:06:51 GMT

Good for you!

Unfortunately the only paper qualification you can work for is the ECVD. On the other hand, if you are yet young, and not already deeply in debt, you might well go for it!

Apart from that, my best advice is - just do it! Let it be known within your practice and with neighbouring practices that you are now their resident dental expert. Join BVDA, so you get JVD and BVDAJ and twice-yearly study days; buy plenty of textbooks (human ones too) and read them. I assume you've already done the whole range of BVDA day courses?

As you know, many (most?) dental cases originally present for something else, so you must enthuse your colleagues to look out for them and always pass them to you (rather than turning a blind eye for instance). One problem you may have to face is colleagues (especially senior partners) who decide to "do a dental" themselves, and do it badly, rather than refer/defer to you.

[quote user="Shona McLachlan"] - medicine drives me up the wall, big surgical holes scare me but give me a full mouth extraction and I am a happy bunny with gum flaps and fiddly little bits of suturing. [/quote]

Wheee-hoo! That's the stuff. And then endodontics and fiddly little files, and orthodontics and fiddly little brackets, it's great!

If there's anything more specific you want to ask about, feel free. You can open a "conversation" if you feel that would be more appropriate.