Small Animal Dentistry Procedures (Sept 2025)

Description

This course is aimed at nurses working in general / referral practice

Week 1

Patient and Equipment Preparation for Dentistry and Oral Surgery

The dentistry workspace and ergonomics
Use and maintenance of dentistry equipment
Dental Instrumentation – use, care and sharpening
Organising the dentistry workflow
Preparing veterinary patients for dentistry procedures and maintaining patient safety

Learning objectives
After completion of this week, participants should be able to:

Effectively prepare and maintain the dentistry workspace and recognise any required improvements for the practice
Operate dentistry equipment and instrumentation in a safe and effective manner
Understand common sharpening techniques for dental instrumentation
Understand how to maintain a safe environment for both staff and patients during dentistry procedures

Week 2

Complete Oral and Radiographic Evaluation (CORE)

Explore the veterinary nurses’ role in veterinary dentistry
What is a CORE procedure
The concept of staged dentistry procedures
Performing an oral assessment, recording findings and completing a dental chart

Learning objectives
After completion of this week, participants should be able to:

Understand how to perform a CORE dental procedure
Recognise and record pathology and discuss findings with the supervising veterinary surgeon
Understand the importance of discussing dentistry treatment with pet owners and the benefits to patient welfare

Week 3

Dental Radiography and Image Interpretation

Dental radiography equipment
Positioning techniques for intra oral radiography
Image interpretation
Other imaging modalities for veterinary dentistry

Learning objectives
After completion of this week, participants should be able to:

Understand the methods in obtaining intra-oral radiographs
Understand the process of achieving diagnostic full mouth radiographs in dog and cats
Gain confidence in orientating and interpreting intra oral radiographs

Week 4

Periodontal Treatments and Surgery in Canine and Feline Patients

Review periodontal disease and its effects on both oral and systemic health
Performing a professional dental cleaning
Managing and treating periodontal disease in cats and dogs

Learning objectives
After completion of this week, participants should be able to:

Understand the aetiology of periodontal disease
Discuss the methods involved in professional dental cleaning, including ultrasonic scaling
Identify treatment options for managing periodontal disease
Understand the principles required during tooth extraction
Advise pet owners on oral hygiene options

Week 5

Local Anaesthetic Techniques for Dentistry Patients

Common regional blocks used in veterinary dentistry
Local anaesthetic agents
Indications for local anaesthesia in dentistry

Learning objectives
After completion of this week, participants should be able to:

Calculate local anaesthetic doses for dental patients
Discuss different local anaesthetic techniques
Understand the appropriate regional block for the required dental procedure
Develop awareness of potential complications from administering local anaesthesia

Week 6

Advanced Procedures for Common Dental Conditions

Treatment options for malocclusions
Common dental procedures for traumatic damage to teeth
Nursing and supportive care of oral surgery patients

Learning objectives
After completion of this week, participants should be able to:

Understand the benefits of advanced dentistry treatment
Discuss endodontic treatment and the required equipment
Advise on postoperative consideration for oral surgery patients

The course will be fully tutored by Claire Harrison and will consist of 15 hours of CPD given in various formats, including tutorials, tasks, case scenarios, forum discussions and quizzes. This course is tutored for 6 weeks, followed by a two week extension of untutored ‘catch up’ time, before the course officially ends.

All delegates will then have unlimited lifetime access to the learning material for future reference

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Speaker

Claire Harrison BSc (Hons), RVN, VTS (Dentistry), AFHEA
Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, Edinburgh

Claire is an experienced RVN and gained a Veterinary Technician Specialty in Dentistry in 2013. She is currently the only UK veterinary nurse to gain a VTS (Dentistry) and has worked in both general practice and referral veterinary dentistry. Claire is an active member of the Academy of Veterinary Dental Technicians and joined the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, Edinburgh in 2018. Here she currently works as Dentistry Nurse and Teaching Fellow in Veterinary Dentistry. This position involves both clinical nursing and delivery of the small animal dentistry teaching for undergraduate veterinary students. Claire also enjoys educating vets and veterinary nurses on small animal dentistry through CPD training events.

CPD Hours

This online course is worth 15 hours of CPD.

A certificate will be available from the ‘My Courses’ section, for you to download and print, once you have completed the course. A permanent record of your total CPD hours will also be recorded in your account section.

AVNAT

Australia and New Zealand

The Australian Veterinary Nurse and Technician (AVNAT) Regulatory Council has allocated 15 AVNAT CPD points to this continuing education activity.

This course is also recognised by the New Zealand Veterinary Nursing Association (NZVNA) as providing 15 CPD points.

Information

Upon purchase you will be registered to attend the course, for 6 weeks from the start date. The course will consist of various interactive tasks and lessons, including quizzes, case studies, forum discussions and further reading material.

The course is fully tutored, with new material will be provided each Monday morning, but the onus will be on the individual delegate to ensure that all tasks are fully complete. The certificate will only be issued at the end of the course when all tasks have been accomplished. Fewer CPD hours will be awarded at the the end of the course if there are unfinished tasks or there has been no contribution to the discussion forum, for example

The course is fully flexible, and there are no weekly ‘deadlines’ – the lessons and tasks may be completed whenever is convenient for each delegate, and any live lessons with be recorded and made available later that same day. Furthermore, all the course material will be available for a further 2 weeks, to allow delegates the opportunity to catch up on missed lessons and tasks, or to take the opportunity to delve further into the suggested reading texts. Please note however, that the course will not be tutored by the speaker during these final two weeks, but the time spent will count towards your CPD hours

After 8 weeks, the course will be complete and there will be no further opportunity to gain the certificate or CPD hours, however, you will have unlimited lifetime access to the tutorials, further reading and quizzes for future reference. If you make any personal notes during the course using the ‘take notes’ app, these will be saved, along with your certificate and CPD record for permanent access in ‘My CPD’

For some further information about our Online Tutored CPD courses – please read our PDF guide to Online Tutored CPD

Levels

This course has been listed as ‘Intermediate’ level

All of our courses are aimed at veterinary nurses in general practice, but everyone who works in the veterinary profession is very welcome to attend, whether you are a clinical receptionist, veterinary surgeon, student nurse or have been a qualified nurse for over 20 years!

The courses are not formally assessed for skill level, so the following CPD levels are just a rough guide to help you decide if a course may be more or less suitable:

Introduction
– maybe most suitable for qualified nurses in general practice approaching a new topic or looking for a refresher course

Intermediate
– maybe most suitable for qualified nurses in general practice along with referral / specialist nurses looking for a refresher course

Advanced
– maybe most suitable for referral / specialist nurses and highly experienced qualified nurses in general practice

Pawprints

You will earn 255 Pawprint Points (£25.50 website credit) when you purchase this course

Our loyalty scheme rewards you with 10% in website credit to spend on future courses. Choose pay with Pawprint Points during checkout.

Invoice My Practice

Invoice

Debit or credit card is the preferred payment method

Please ask your practice manager or accounts department to visit the website, register an account in their own name, and during checkout, complete the ‘delegate name’ and ‘delegate email’ sections with your personal details. We will then register you a personal account on your behalf, and transfer the course booking over to your new personal account. We will of course email you all the information you need to access this new account and your CPD course.

If you need an invoice and no other payment method is available to you, then please email [email protected] with all the following information:

Full name of delegate
Email address for delegate
Course(s) booking
Any discounts / promotions being redeemed
Practice name and address
Invoice name and address (if different)
Corporate group name (Linnaeus, IVC, Medivet, VetPartners etc) (if applicable)
Practice code (eg Vet4Pets practices)
Booking / invoice reference (if required)
Email address to send the invoice (practice manager, accounts department or head office – not your own email address please)

Please note the following:

Invoices must be requested a minimum of 4-6 weeks prior to a course starting, to allow time for the payment to be received
Delegates will not be allowed access to any course without prior payment
An invoice will be emailed to the contact provided and the course booking will be reserved for 7 days, whilst payment via debit / credit card or BACS is arranged
There will be an administration fee of £2.50 +VAT per invoice generated. You may book multiple delegates / multiple courses on a single invoice to the same practice

Tutored Online CPD