Dental Extractions!

So today was my third day of placement at Greenbank Animal Hospital and it was a great day. It was much busier than the first two days and I was able to do a lot more. There was a cat in for dental extractions. The doctor and technicians weren't all that familiar with taking dental radiographs so I tried to impart some of the knowledge and experience that I gained at AHS, especially from Dr. Ashmore. I helped one of the doctors understand the shadow effect of dental radiographs. I was told in my dental lectures back in Edinburgh that a tooth is like a single tree in a field during the day when the sun is up. The higher the sun is, the shorter the shadow of the tree and the lower the sun is, the more elongated the shadow of the tree will be. The sun being the x-ray beam. I think it is a great analogy and helps to understand how to take dental radiographs.

After the radiographs were taken, we moved the cat to the dental table. After reviewing the radiographs, it was determined that most of the teeth would be extracted. After the first extraction, Dr. Oliver handed me the equipment and allowed me to extract 6 of the teeth. One of the premolars that I extracted was quite difficult to get out. I used the drill on two of the teeth to split the two roots at the bifurcation, which made extracting the individual roots MUCH easier. I also found that cutting the gingiva and making a flap made visualizing the roots much easier. I did manage to break one of the roots and I just used a round-tipped bur and drilled out the remaining root fragment. To end the day, I helped with an appointment with two chinchillas. I was extremely happy that I was able to do so much hands-on work today and that they allowed me to extract teeth. Maybe they will let me perform a cruciate ligament repair??? Maybe when I come back to AZ Dr. Prevatt will let me do a TTA all on my own? Hope everyone is having a great week so far! Talk to you all soon!