An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Military working dogs keep their bite with the help of Air Force dentists

  • Published
  • By Shireen Bedi
  • Air Force Surgeon General Public Affairs
FALLS CHURCH, Va. --  Every Airman knows the importance of medical readiness. From the clinic to combat, the Air Force is equipped with healthcare providers ready to deliver the necessary care. This also means providing care for military working dogs. Air Force dentists extend their services to help man’s best friend ensure their readiness and to prevent any impact on the mission.

“Just like Airmen need to be of sound mind and body when it comes to readiness, so do our military working dogs,” said Col. James Kutner, the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Dentistry Consultant, stationed at Joint-Base Langley-Eustis.

Like Airmen, military working dogs need to be dentally ready. The Air Force provides vital dental services alongside Army veterinarians to ensure their dental health and address any significant concerns that could affect their readiness.

“These dogs work hard and much of their training requires them to bite and hold on to objects or attackers,” explained Col. Michael Crabtree, director of Endodontics Advanced Education in General Dentistry with Joint-Base San Antonio-Lackland. “When the dogs are in pain, their biting force is reduced significantly, impacting their effectiveness. With any dental discomfort, dogs may not eat and this could prevent them from getting the proper nourishment.”

For Air Force dentists, treating military working dogs is not very different than treating their human counterparts.

“The morphology or structure of human teeth are similar to that of dogs,” said Kutner. “Those similarities help Air Force dentists make the transition to caring for canines.”

While these similarities make it easy for Air Force dentists to provide their expertise, there are challenges not seen when treating humans.

“There are some differences that can impact how dental care is delivered to a dog,” explained Kutner. “Dogs have different sinuses and can have canine root canals 30 millimeters longer than humans. Also, various symptoms present themselves differently in dogs.”

Due to these differences, dentists have to use extra caution, especially when dealing with infected or broken teeth that need a root canal. In these circumstances, an improper extraction could seriously damage the dog’s jaw, affecting its readiness and possibly the mission.

“Most of the procedures we do for military working dogs are root canals,” said Crabtree. “Administering a safe root canal for a dog is critical in maintaining their effectiveness, making a dog’s canines an important dental priority.”

There are some additional challenges that Air Force dentists have to consider, which makes their relationship with Army veterinarians so crucial. For example, it is vital that the dogs are controlled and sedated before dentists can perform a root canal. Air Force dentists rely on Army veterinarians to administer anesthesia.

“We would never be able to administer care without veterinarian assistance,” explains Kutner. “They allow us to focus on providing optimal dental care.”

Air Force dentists use training modules and hands-on training to treat military working dogs to maintain their canine dentistry skills. These dentists strive to provide the same scope and quality of care to dogs as they do human Airmen.

“At the end of the day, it is all about mission readiness,” said Kutner. “We play a part to make sure that commanders have all resources available to carry out the mission, and dogs are an integral part to the mission.”