Dentistry
This domain tests oral anatomy, dental charting, periodontal therapy, extraction principles, and dental radiography.
Core rules
- Permanent dentition: dogs have 42 teeth; cats have 30. Dental charting records missing, fractured, mobile, and resorptive teeth, plus probing depths and gingival recession.
- Periodontal therapy includes supragingival and subgingival scaling, probing, and polishing. Polishing smooths enamel after scaling; without it, plaque returns faster. Avoid excessive heat from power scalers.
- Full-mouth radiographs are required before extraction to find root remnants, bone loss, and resorptive lesions.
- Extraction may be closed or surgical; multirooted teeth often need sectioning.
Worked example
A cat has halitosis and a 5-mm periodontal pocket on the right mandibular canine. Under anesthesia, the technician obtains full-mouth radiographs, charts probing depths and mobility, and notes a resorptive lesion. The veterinarian plans extraction because the tooth is nonvital and the pocket is deep. The reasoning: radiographs and charting define the lesion, and polishing all teeth follows scaling. A 5-mm pocket is clinically significant, not a normal finding.
Traps
Scaling without polishing, using human toothpaste, missing feline resorptive lesions, and extracting a tooth without radiographs are frequent errors. Do not probe forcefully or ignore bleeding; both can indicate active disease.