Why is this initiative important?
Oral and dental disease is an extremely common and painful condition:
- Dental/oral disease is the most common medical issue in small animal medicine.
- Oral disease IS painful. However, veterinary patients rarely show signs of pain.
- There are numerous significant local and regional consequences of oral infection. There are numerous significant systemic effects of oral infection.
- Due to the significant amount of pain and infection, including the significant local, regional and systemic consequences, un- and undertreated oral and dental pathology significantly decreases the patient’s quality of life.
- This can and should be interpreted as an animal welfare program.
- There is a tremendous lack of dental education in the veterinary profession.
- Less than 20% of veterinary schools in the US and even fewer worldwide have a veterinary dentist on staff.
Based on this:
- There exist a significant number of myths regarding dentistry.
- Oral, dental, and maxillofacial disease is significantly under as well as poorly treated.
- This misinformation not only results in poor treatment, but has allowed procedures such as anesthesia-free dentistry to flourish.
- Confusion as to the cause of periodontal disease has also created a culture in which antibiotics are used to excess in dental disease.
- There is likely no area of veterinary medicine that needs education and standardization more than dentistry.
- Academy of Veterinary Dentistry (AVD)
- All-Ukrainian Union of Veterinary Dentists (BCBC)
- Asociacion de Veterinarios Espanoles Especialistas en Pequenos Animales (AVEPA)
- Associacao Portugesa de Medicos Veterinarios Especialistas em Animais de Companhia (APMVEAC)
- Bulgarian Association of Small Animal Veterinarians (BASAV)
- Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA)
- Companion Animal Veterinaries, New Zealand Veterinary Association (CVA)
- Croatian Small Animal Veterinary Section (CSAVS)
- Czech Small Animal Veterinary Association (CSAVA)
- Hellenic Companion Animal Veterinary Society(HCAVS)
- Hellenic Veterinary Medical Society (HVMS)
- International Society of Feline Medicine (ISFM)
- International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management (IVAPM)
- Japanese Study Group of Veterinary Maxillofacial Oral Surgery
- Kenyan Small and Companion Animal Veterinary Association (KESCAVA)
- Lithuania Small Animal Veterinary Association (LSAVA)
- Macedonian Small Animal Veterinary Association (MSAVA)
- Montenegro Association of Small Animal Practitioners (MASAP)
- Netherlands Association of Companion Animal Medicine (NACAM)
- Norwegian Small Animal Vets Association (NSAVA)
- Philippine Animal Hospital Association (PAHA)
- Polish Small Animal Veterinary Association (PSAVA)
- Slovene Small Animal Veterinary Association (SZVMZ)
- Small Animal Veterinary Association Belgium- Flanders SAVAB -Flanders)
- Spanish Veterinary Dental and Maxillofacial Surgery Society (SEOVE)
- Swedish Veterinary Dental Association (SSDt)
- Veterinary Association of Namibia (VAN)
- Veterinary Ireland (VICAS)