I said before I went that I was looking for the seminar that would make dentistry fun. It must have happened, at least to some degree. This afternoon a good client brought in her old cat because she thought her mouth had been injured. The cat was drooling, and wouldn't eat well.
On examination, we found that Lovie's left upper canine tooth (or #204, as we veterinary dentists call it) was missing and it's socket was filled with pus. She was actually down to six teeth, plus a couple of broken snags. She was also hurting. The owner makes a forty-minute drive to see us and asked if we could just keep her this evening (it was already after five) and take care of her tomorrow. We aim to please, so we fixed her a lovely private room for the night.
The schedule for tomorrow is already over-full. How will I work in a dental case? Gee, I hate to disappoint my good client...and I get to use of some of my new-found knowledge already.
Even though I had worked until six, gone to the CASA training until eight-thirty and didn't finish supper until nearly nine, I came back to the clinic. And here I am at eleven-twenty, blogging about it. The other upper canine tooth was extremely loose and had to come out. In fact, Lovie is down to three teeth and no broken snags now. Where those big fangs come out, you have a nice big hole that will probably break into the nasal passages (if it hasn't already). I scraped those nasty sockets out and filled them with Consil synthetic bone graft material, then sutured the gums shut and they should do great.
A little pain medicine, some antibiotics for a week, and soft food for a while, and she ought to feel much better. Once her mouth heals, she can probably even handle dry food without much trouble: it pretty much dissolves in the stomach whether they chew it or not.
I must be having fun -- why else would I still be here?
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