Canine Crowns: Lab Helps Working Dogs in Need
Posted Mar 16, 2017 in Labs & Profiles
About 20 years ago, Oral Arts Dental Laboratories in Huntsville, AL, got a request from a local dentist for four crowns. There was a catch, though: the patient was a dog. Always up for a challenge, Founder and CEO Thomas Winstead worked with the dog’s vet to restore the teeth.
Since then, the lab has fabricated crowns for six other dogs, most of them law enforcement animals. Most recently, the lab used its expertise to help Marley (pictured below), a Labrador Retriever trained to detect narcotics, whose affinity for tennis balls resulted in worn canines.
Tennis balls are often used as a reward during training but they can lead to dental problems when the dog continues to chew on them. “The balls get wet, then roll on the ground and pick up sand, gravel and become abrasive. As the dog chews on the ball, it erodes the enamel down to the gum line,” explains Dr. Sean McPeck, Marley’s vet. “When Marley came...
