AVA Conference Adelaide 2016

While animals are kept in zoos or on display, their dental care becomes a vital part of their husbandry procedures. There are many challenges when dealing with unusual species which are vastly different from our domestic pets. The anatomy is often unknown or at least poorly described and publications are often by non-veterinarians. Sometimes two different publications will have two different descriptions of the dental and oral anatomy. A skull from the species to be treated should always be available if possible. Most frequently the veterinary dentist becomes involved when a keeper notices that something is wrong with the animal. Hopefully the zoo or park veterinarians are notified and a useful description of the condition can be available so an idea of what will be required and appropriate instrumentation selected. This is not always the case and dental treatment in the exotics can be very challenging