Vet-Tome

2 ½ months ago we upgraded our dental equipment and bought the CR7 iM3 dental radiograph hand unit and the iM3 Vet-Tome. I don’t know how we used to do dentals without the x/ray guidance. The system is user friendly and in less than 10 minutes we now have full mouth x/rays on every patient. The Vet-Tome has just made dental extractions, easier for us. I recently had the “pleasure” of extracting two fractured canine teeth (an upper and a lower) at gum level, in a young staffy after a storm. Normally I would have raised a gum flap burred bone, and then broken into a sweat, trying not to break the jaw in the process. Instead I fired up the Vet-Tome. I tackled the upper canine first, and with the instructional video playing on the iPhone beside me, at “rookie pace”, I gradually learnt how to use the Vet-Tome as I went. The first tooth root took 27 minutes. There is a technique but it is easy, and by the lower canine I had my confidence. 4 ½ minutes later, I had removed the lower canine root with no fuss. I have since used it to remove 109, 209 also with ease. Best investment we have made.

I have used the vet tome on two dogs and it worked very well. One was a young Shih Tzu with 8 retained deciduous teeth, 4 of these being canines. I removed the first upper deciduous canine tooth painstakingly slowly as I didnt want it to fracture, so I decided to use the vet tome on the remaining retained canines. I used the low setting of 2, and did not use it on the surface next to the erupted permanent tooth. It sped up the procedure significantly and I didnt fracture any roots. So that worked well. I also used the vet tome on a Miniature Schnauzer that needed two lower canine teeth removed. I didnt need to make a gingival flap and removed the first tooth in about 15 minutes. My colleague removed the second lower canine in 25 minutes burring away only minimal alveolar bone. I am very happy with the vet tome so far and I am looking forward to using it on more cases in the future.

The Vet-Tome turned up this week and I got to pull it out today for a slab fracture of the upper carnassial PM4 in a 35kg Chow chow. With absolute L-plate learner speed and due caution, the entire extraction took 12 minutes. I felt in complete control the whole time, zero sweating, and my nurses tell me my language remained civil the entire time. There is no doubt the trauma to surrounding tissue was substantially less than I would normally create. Dr Caiafa predicts this will be a game changer for the profession- It certainly is for me!

Today, I used the Vet-Tome for the first time on a 6 month old 4kg PoodleX with two retained upper deciduous canine teeth. Both teeth were complete with no resorption of the roots. Total time per tooth from gum incision to removal of the tooth - 4 & 1/2 minutes per tooth - I used setting 2 and went very carefully, and with practice will become more competent and confident. The key benefits are intra-operative time saving for the patient and surgeon and the reduction in trauma to the patient. I would recommend this machine to every practice owner.

I got to use the Vet-Tome for the first time last week. I was extracting a lower canine in a Staffy dog. The nemesis for most practitioners. Normally, to extract this tooth, I would raise flaps on both the lateral and medial sides of the tooth. I would also remove bone on both sides of the tooth, and then with the use of luxators and elevators and a fair amount of angst, I would extract the tooth with the fear of fracturing the lower jaw in the back of my mind. The dog would then be left with a fairly big hole as well as bone loss from the surgical extraction and the flap would then be sutured over this cavernous hole. I figured that hopefully in the future, something would arrive that would take away the fear, the sweat and sometimes the tears that has been associated with difficult extractions. The future has arrived. The Vet-Tome is basically a mechanical periotome with 1-10 power settings that follows and cuts the periodontal ligament. It can be used 360 degrees around the tooth. The idea is that you normally do not need to remove alveolar bone, but the Vet-Tome creates a space around the tooth and will loosen the tooth. In my hands, I then use elevators to elevate the tooth out of the socket, finally allowing for extraction forceps to finish the job. The hole that is left is much smaller than in a surgical extraction. The Vet-Tome gives you the ability to perform a truly minimally invasive extraction, which means more rapid socket healing and less pain for the pet. In my humble opinion, the Vet-Tome will be a game changer for the veterinary profession.

The Vet-Tome gives you the ability to perform a truly minimally invasive extraction, which means more rapid socket healing and less pain for the pet. In my humble opinion, the Vet-Tome will be a game changer for the veterinary profession.