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MARCH 7
Dental Home Care: Concepts and Products

Speaker: Fraser Hale, DVM, Fellow, Academy of Veterinary Dentistry, Diplomate, American Veterinary Dental College

Periodontal disease remains the most common health concern in dogs and cats. This presentation will review the causes of periodontal disease and the priorities in preventing/managing it. Then we will explore what owners can do at home between professional treatments to maintain optimum oral health.

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I graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College in 1984 and took an associate position at an AAHA hospital in Toronto. During five years there, I was encouraged to develop a special interest and gravitated towards dentistry. In 1988, I joined the American Veterinary Dental Society and started to attend continuing education programs on the subject. In 1989 I moved to the small town of Fergus to be small animal practitioner in a mixed practice. This practice had no dental equipment and no budget so I bought my own. Within three months, bonuses generated from the dental cases had paid for my equipment and I was doing two to three dental procedures a day.

In 1991 I started taking the Companion Animal Dental Certificate Series offered by the Ontario Veterinary College, taught by James Anthony. I also left general practice to start a mobile veterinary dental referral service in which I would travel to hospitals with my equipment and do in-house referral dentistry. In 1994, I became a fellow of the Academy of Veterinary Dentistry (the first in Ontario and only the third in Canada) and set up a stationary dental office at a clinic in Guelph. In 1997 I became a Diplomate of the American Veterinary Dental College (again, the first in Ontario and the third in Canada to become board certified). In 2003 I moved out of subleased space in a general practice to open Canada’s first dental-only veterinary facility. As well as being busy with my referral practice, I am frequently invited to speak to veterinary and technician’s groups as well as presenting at national and international conferences. I offer a wide range of continuing education programs at my clinic. I have published several articles and case reports in the journals as well as textbook chapters and am a consultant on the Dental Board of VIN.

I have served and continue to serve numerous committees of both the Academy of Veterinary Dentistry and the American Veterinary Dental College. In 2005 I was named Fellow of the Year by the Academy of Veterinary Dentistry and in 2010 was the recipient of the American Veterinary Dental Society Hill’s Research and Education Award.