The WSAVA represents more than 160,000 veterinarians globally through 94 member associations and is focused on enhancing the clinical care of companion animals globally. One its core activities is the development of WSAVA Global Guidelines in key areas of veterinary practice. These Guidelines aim to support veterinarians by setting standards for care and recommending best practice in each area.
Vision
To improve the oral health of small animal veterinary patients worldwide.
Objectives
Create a tiered system of minimum dental standards which uses the WSAVA’s CE system. Promote veterinary dentistry, especially how poor oral health has a negative effect on systemic health. Create CE for global distribution, printed, online, and live.
Committee Resources
Activity Reports
Chair(s)
Dr Brook Niemiec
Members
Dr Ana Nemec
Dr Gottfried Morgenegg
Dr Kymberley McLeod
Maggie Burley
Maggie is a Registered and Accredited Veterinary Nurse with more than 15 years’ experience in small animal general practice. Her passion for the care of dental patients lead her to achieving the Diploma of Veterinary Nursing (Dental) in 2013 and then the Veterinary Technician Specialty (Dentistry) in 2018. Maggie’s passion for dentistry comes second only to her passion for sharing her knowledge in veterinary dentistry nursing through her role as a Training Consultant for AIRC / CCG. She has been an industry leader in the continuing education of veterinary nurses & technicians through the development and provision of face-to-face workshops in veterinary dentistry, in-clinic training and digital online learning.
Maggie supports and serves the veterinary nursing profession at both a State and National level as an active member of the Veterinary Nurses Council of Australia and the Australian Veterinary Nurse and Technician (AVNAT) Registration Scheme.
Maggie values educating pet owners in the oral hygiene of their pets and hopes that one day a good oral hygiene routine becomes part of every pet’s daily life.
Dr Benedict Ong
Dr Benedict Ong is a veterinarian from Malaysia who is passionate about pain management, especially about pain management and regional anesthesia for the dental patient. Dr. Benedict received his DVM and MVM (Master of Veterinary Medicine in Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia) at Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia. He followed up his studies with a Ph.D. in Veterinary Anesthesiology with the aim of developing a coccygeal epidural anesthesia technique in rabbits at University of Miyazaki, Japan.
Living in a multicultural society in Malaysia has equipped Dr. Benedict to be a better key-opinion leader with multilingual ability. As evidence, he is volunteering in the translation of the capsule review and pain recognition brochure to the Chinese and Malays language in collaboration with IVAPM. He is also part of the translation team of the Feline Grimace Scale website.
Dr Chandika Wickram
Dr. Chandika received his BVSc from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in 2007 and completed his Masters degree in 2010. After completing a 15-month tenure as a resident clinician at the teaching hospital, he joined Pet Vet, the pioneering veterinary hospital in the island nation in 2009, and has been working there for the last 11 years as a companion animal clinician.
He has been trained in USA, Malaysia, India and Thailand on veterinary dentistry and cardiology, which are his main interests. He has 13 local publications so far, and two of them have been selected as the best for the respective years. He has also been admitted as a member to the Sri Lanka College of Veterinery Surgeons in 2016.
Dr. Chandika is known among colleagues and clients for his feline medicine and care. The ISFM Silver level cat friendly certification of the practice has facilitated this further. He has also lectured on veterinery dentistry and cardiology to local veterinarians. Moreover, he has been instrumental in uplifting the standards of veterinary dentistry of Sri Lanka, and now, having been selected as a member of the Global Dental Committee of WSAVA, hopes to extend the services to regional and international levels.
Dr Paulo Steagall
Advisor
Dr. Steagall received his DVM and completed a Residency in Veterinary Anesthesiology at Sao Paulo State University (UNESP Botucatu), Brazil. He followed up his studies with a Ms and a Ph.D. in Anesthesiology with an emphasis in feline analgesia at the same institution. Currently, Dr. Steagall is an Associate Professor of Veterinary Anesthesiology and Analgesia at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Montreal, Canada and a board certified anesthesiologist by the American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia (ACVAA). He was part of the Board of Directors of the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management (IVAPM). He is currently part of the editorial board of the Journal Feline Medicine and Surgery, the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) Global Pain Council, the WSAVA Dental Standardization Guidelines and co-chair of the WSAVA Therapeutics Guidelines Group. He is the first author of the book entitled “Feline Anesthesia and Pain Management” by Wiley. Dr. Steagall has published more than 80 original, peer-reviewed articles related to pain management in small animals.
Website: View bio on website
Dr Jerzy Gawor
Executive Board Liaison