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Chapter 15 Dental Skills for the Veterinary Assistant 289

holes in teeth for root canal therapy. The handpieces Polishing Follows Dental
may need to be lubricated depending on the manufac-
turer’s recommendations. The dental units also come Cleaning
equipped with a three‐way syringe. This syringe has two
buttons. One button creates a water spray while the Polishing removes and smooths out the tiny scratches on
other creates an air stream. The water spray can be the tooth surface created during dental scaling. If left
used to rinse the mouth to clear debris, excess prophy unpolished the etching gives the plaque bacteria more
paste, and irrigate the tissues. The air stream can be surface area to attach to the tooth. Polishing requires a
used to dry tissues. If both buttons are pressed a mist prophy cup filled with a medium to fine grit prophy
will be formed. paste and a prophy tip on a low speed handpiece that
moves at approximately 3000–8000 rpm. The prophy
paste can be applied with a finger or you can dip the
prophy tip into the paste. If that is the method used,
Reflection make sure to set the prophy tip on the surface of the
tooth and then push the foot control to start the rota-
Compare and contrast the differently powered tion. Otherwise you get prophy paste flung everywhere!
dental machines. What are the advantages and Disposable prophy tips are available, decrease contami-
disadvantages of each? nation, and are inexpensive. Each tooth is polished for
1 second or less. The excessive heat from the speed of
the handpiece can burn the tooth. For the bigger teeth
Dental Prophylaxis like the molars polish half the tooth, move to another
and then come back and polish the second half.

The veterinary technician and the assistant will place the
patient under general anesthesia and attach the multi- Charting the Oral
function monitor. Personal protective equipment (PPE) Examination
for both are caps, gloves, face masks, and goggles or face
shield to protect against the bacteria that is found in the The most effect dental practices implement four‐handed
oral cavity of dogs and cats. This is doubly important as dentistry. Four‐handed dentistry allows for the veteri-
the automated scalers aerosolize the bacteria because of narian or veterinary technician to be performing the
the water required to keep the handpieces and tips from oral examination while the veterinary assistant records
overheating. the information onto the dental chart.
The technician will often perform the dental prophy-
A dental chart is a diagrammatic representation of the
laxis. During the procedure the assistant will be moni- dentition where information can be entered in a picto-
toring the patient, marking not only the anesthesia rial or notation format. It allows you to keep a record of
monitoring chart but the dental chart as well. As the the patient’s oral health, track changes in oral health,
technician will call out the sulcus depths, lesions found, and record treatment. The dental chart includes vital
teeth loose or missing, or fractures or worn teeth. The information about the patient, history, findings, medica-
assistant will be responsible for filling in the dental chart tions, and, most importantly, a key to interpret the nota-
as these pathologies are found. Most charts will have a tions used on the format, therefore becoming a legal
legend that indicate the marks used to indicate these document.
problems. It will be up to the assistant to make sure the
marks are made on the correct teeth.
After using the dental machines, it is recommended Triadan Numbering System
that the teeth be gone through once again with the hand
instruments. Use the explorer to check for missed There are two systems for identifying teeth, with common
calculus by sliding the side of the instrument along the abbreviation marks used on both systems. The Triadan
surface of the tooth. Calculus will make the instrument system is the most common tooth identification system.
drag or feel bumpy, while on a clean tooth surface the It gives each tooth a three‐digit number (Figure 15.9).
instrument will glide smoothly. If calculus is found it can The first digit represents the quadrant of the mouth and
be quickly removed with the hand‐held instruments. the other two numbers represent the tooth based upon
Meanwhile, the assistant can help out by changing the its position inside the mouth. The advantages of the
handpiece to the polisher and preparing the polishing Triadan system is that it is quicker and easier to say and
paste. If the clinic orders the paste in large jars, a portion can be used with most computers. The disadvantages are
needs to be taken out with a tongue depressor so as to that it is not intuitive, it is based upon the canine dental
not contaminate the jar. formula and so must be adapted to other species and you