April 17, 2012
Change to Calif. pet teeth cleaning regulation fails
California legislation that would have amended state code relating to the practice of teeth cleaning within veterinary medicine failed Tuesday without receiving a single affirmative vote. The legislation, which would have allowed non-veterinarians to use a scaler on pets’ teeth, died in the Assembly Business, Professions and Consumer Committee April 17, 2012. The legislation marks another chapter in the ongoing debate over veterinary dental care. Veterinarians currently hold the exclusive legal right to use a scaler on pet teeth and perform other dental procedures on animals. The bill proposed that non-veterinarians would be allowed to use nonmotorized instruments to remove calculus, soft deposits, plaque, or stains from an exposed area of a household pets tooth above the gum line, provided that the service is performed exclusively for cosmetic purposes and the person performing the service first obtains written permission from the person requesting the service. The bill would have exempted cosmetic teeth cleaning from classification as a "dental operation".