The lower jaw of the cat on your exam table is displaced to the left (Photo 1). Is the mandible or maxilla fractured? Or is the mandible luxated? If so, right or left? What is the best way to diagnose and treat this problem? Can you as a general practitioner handle it, or must the case be referred to a boarded orthopedic or dental specialist?

When a dog or cat presents with lethargy or pale mucous membranes and anemia is suspected, the ultimate treatment and prognosis starts with successfully categorizing the problem.

I hung up the receiver after explaining to one of my clients why his "normally" undershot Shih Tzu's maxillary incisors needed be removed because they were penetrating the mandibular gingiva.

Creating a dental treatment plan can be frustrating. As with other veterinary disciplines, dental diagnosis and care is one-third recognition of disease, one-third understanding anatomy and medical principles, and the last third performing needed care.

According to industry estimates, less than 10 percent of small animal practices have dental radiograph units and of those, less than 10 percent take intraoral films on every dental case.

Behind every flourishing dental practice is a great veterinary staff. If you want to move forward with your veterinary dental practice, it's time to get your technicians on board.

Prevention is one of the most important parts of hygiene, as teeth are clean for only about six hours.

A disturbing e-mail arrived the other day: Hello, Dr. Bellows: I have a 5-year-old yellow Labrador Retriever that I have routinely cleaned her teeth (with enzyme toothpaste and a brush, recently using Sonicare). Despite all best efforts, she is building up tartar and I think may have a dark spot (cavity on a rear molar).

Intraoral radiographs are essential to perform quality dental therapy. Teeth can be cleaned and polished without seeing radiographic images below the gingiva, but "dentistry" cannot be performed properly.