Abstract
BackgroundA dental therapy dog may help anxious patients in the dental clinic overcome their fear and facilitate the completion of necessary dental care. Dental clinic activities are associated with hazards that may pose potential risks to the health and safety of the dental therapy dog.ObjectivesTo describe potential hazards associated with risks to health and safety to therapy dogs in dental clinics and to present suggestions for risk minimisation by adopting best practices in dental clinic settings.Materials and methodLiterature searches in Medline, http://Clinicaltrials.gov, and Google Scholar for qualitative and quantitative assessments of occupational hazards and risks in dental clinics, in combination with a review of the reference list of the included studies. Identified hazards and risks were analysed relative to their relevance for the health and welfare of a therapy dog present in a dental clinic setting.ResultsWorkplace hazards in the dental clinic that apply to both humans and therapy dogs are allergies, sharps injury, eye injury, stress, rhinitis, hearing impairment, and other hazards. Additional concerns associated with risks for the dental therapy dog are situations involving erratic patient behaviour and threats if the patient is an undisclosed disease carrier. Risks to the health and safety of the dental therapy dog in the clinics are present but are low if the dental clinical staff and dog handlers comply with best practices.ConclusionsBest practice includes awareness amongst the clinic staff and the dog handler of all potential hazards in the dental clinic and on how to reduce these hazards as well as adverse events that may scare the dental therapy dog. The dental therapy dog team must be specially trained to work in a dental clinic. Each treatment session has to be exclusively tailored to that specific appointment and the individual patient.
Highlights
Dental anxiety and fear are common, and estimates of prevalence range between 15% and 35% in the literature, depending on the study population and tool used for measuring anxiety and fear
The objective of the current paper is to describe potential hazards associated with risks to health and safety to the dental therapy dog in dental clinics and to present suggestions for risk minimisation by adopting proposed best practices in dental clinic settings
The hazards and risks to the health and welfare for humans in a dental clinic setting were critically appraised with respect to their potential relevance to the health and safety for a dental therapy dog working in a dental clinic setting
Summary
Dental anxiety and fear are common, and estimates of prevalence range between 15% and 35% in the literature, depending on the study population and tool used for measuring anxiety and fear. Given the higher risk procedures associated with sedation or general anaesthesia, there is an interest to pursue alternative approaches to managing anxious patients. Dental clinic activities are associated with hazards that may pose potential risks to the health and safety of the dental therapy dog. Objectives: To describe potential hazards associated with risks to health and safety to therapy dogs in dental clinics and to present suggestions for risk minimisation by adopting best practices in dental clinic settings. Risks to the health and safety of the dental therapy dog in the clinics are present but are low if the dental clinical staff and dog handlers comply with best practices. Conclusions: Best practice includes awareness amongst the clinic staff and the dog handler of all potential hazards in the dental clinic and on how to reduce these hazards as well as adverse events that may scare the dental therapy dog. Each treatment session has to be exclusively tailored to that specific appointment and the individual patient
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