Toothy Thomson

YES! You saw that right, a number 2 pencil ✏️ FIXED that luxated TMJ!!

AND a few buttons and suture hold the joint in place while additional injuries heal.

NOW that pencil needs to place in the correct location, AND rotated in the correct direction, WITH the correct pressure when closing.
Location: between the carnassials (maxillary PM4 & mandibular M1) on the affected side.
Direction: rotate the pencil ✏️ down and back
*counterclockwise for the left and clockwise on the right*
Pressure: just enough to engage the ✏️
By rotating the ✏️ while applying pressure on the closed mouth, you will push the mandible DOWN to get the condyle under the articular eminence and back into the mandibular fossa.

AND for the buttons, they need to be placed bilaterally andddd allow the cat to open their mouth enough to eat, BUT nit so much that the condyle re-luxated.

Check out my colleague’s paper on the BEARD/modified labial buttons technique: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27487655/

ALWAYS count teeth. .. and ALWAYS confirm “missing” teeth with radiographs.

Have you treated Dentigerous cysts before!?

IF you haven’t, but want to, did this video help?
What questions do you have ⬇️



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Don’t loose the fight against gingival fibers!!!

Elevating mucoperiosteal flaps is where PHYSICS meets ANATOMY.

1️⃣ make sure your sulcular AND vertical releasing incisions are FULL THICKNESS. Meaning down to bone.
and
2️⃣ ensure the force of your periosteal elevator is PERPENDICULAR to the gingival fibers. OR mesial-to-distal. NOT coronal-to-apical.

Did you know this tip??!?

FOLLOW Amy | Veterinary Dentist | Dentistry Courses & Advice for more!

At the risk of pi$$ing off the internet again. .. I PREFER an unsharpened winged elevator! 😱

I have seen FAR TOO MANY OVER-sharpened, possibly done incorrectly, winged elevators like the one shown here. This oversharpening has REMOVED ~60% of the working tip.

Given winged elevators are designed to STRETCH the periodontal ligament (NOT CUT IT) by rotating the tooth, it is best to have the FULL working tip surface area.

Dentistry is PHYSICS!

Make sure your “oral exam” includes all the ‘peri-oral’ tissues too!

I like to call my exams “maxillofacial and oral” given oral disease can have perioral signs AND perioral disease can have oral symptoms.

And while I hated 😿 finding this mass, I am glad we were able to discuss diagnostic/therapeutic options as well as next steps with this sweet cat’s owners instead of investing time and money into their teeth.

Do you perform maxillofacial exams??

Follow Amy | Veterinary Dentist | Dentistry Courses & Advice for more dentistry tips.

Please stay SAFE while staying COOL 🧊

Given the hardness of large ice cubes, AND our pet’s oral anatomy and thus how the teeth come together to chew COMBINED with PHYSICS this can lead to tooth fracture.

The main chewing teeth, maxillary fourth premolar and mandibular first molar, come together like scissors ✂️
Therefore, of something harder than the teeth is placed between them there is an OUTward force on the maxillary tooth and an INward force on the mandibular tooth.
The RESULT = tooth fracture.

So instead of large cubes (IF your eye likes to check 🧊) instead go for small cubes or even better crushed ice.

Stay cool 😎 and FOLLOW Amy | Veterinary Dentist | Dentistry Courses & Advice for more oral health tips!

Pets are NEVER “too young” for a COHAT.

This 14-month old cat has marked calculus and gingivitis and despite her young age her veterinarian recommended a COHAT.
*Comprehensive Oral Health Assessment & Treatment(s)*

And we are all glad they did, there was quite a bit of disease found to treat.
BUT now she has healthier mouth and set up for better overall oral health and hygiene moving forward.

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Save yourself the FRUSTRATION of this mistake leading to inefficiency.

I have long joked that DENTISTRY is the reason we had to take PHYSICS to get into veterinary school. .. we just weren’t told that! *cue laughter* 🤭

But truly, the placement of your instruments is VITAL to ensuring the correct force on the correct location.

FOLLOW Amy | Veterinary Dentist | Dentistry Courses & Advice for more dentistry tips.

I said what I said.

To me AFDs are worse than doing nothing. ..

1️⃣ they give the perception or appearance of health when disease is often missed, and

2️⃣ the money spent on these COSMETIC procedures is money that cannot be put towards a COHAT, that can actually diagnose and treat disease.



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I will NEVER support or recommend anesthesia-free dental cleanings. EVER.

However, I will ALSO remind veterinary professionals AND pet parents that it is not anesthesia itself, or the lack therefore of, that make anesthesia-free cleanings cosmetic only.

It is that anesthesia IS NEEDED to perform diagnostics: 1️⃣ tooth-by-tooth examination and 2️⃣ full mouth radiographs as well as THOROUGH cleaning.

🔥hot tip: ALWAYS, and I mean always check your cleaning with hand instruments.



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