by Curt Coffman, DVM, DAVDC, National Specialty Director of Dentistry at Thrive Pet Healthcare
As dentistry continues to become a larger part of primary care veterinary practice, many teams are focusing or re-focusing on dentistry as a key area of expansion within their practice. This requires a concentration on post-graduate and continuing education training in dentistry not only for the practicing veterinarian, but also for the veterinary technical staff and hospital team. Fortunately, there are multiple educational opportunities in dentistry including online courses and hands-on training. Dentistry courses are included in the curriculum at most continuing education (CE) meetings, and full-time, dental training centers have become more common making it easier to find and complete dental-focused training.
Some of the larger hospital groups have organized internal training programs within their family of hospitals to focus on improving the quality of dentistry care. These comprehensive learning programs range from simple online CE courses to virtual trainings with hands-on didactic instruction. Thrive Pet Healthcare has developed this type of learning platform with its Dental Growth Program that pairs a virtual learning curriculum with hands-on, didactic laboratory sessions to teach clinical skills in areas such as dental radiology and dental extractions. The Thrive program has courses for doctors and technicians that are aimed at raising the standard of care and ultimately improving the quality of dental care that patients receive.
This article originally appeared on dvm360.com on February 10, 2023 as part of Thrive Pet Healthcare's Strategic Alliance with dvm360.
