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Introducing…Our Dentistry Service!
Welcome back, next stop on the tour of The Ralph’s services – Dentistry and the talented Simone!
Our referral Dentistry service will provide care to patients with conditions relating to the teeth (also known as oro-dental) examples of which include:
- Traumatically damaged teeth
- Developmental dental abnormalities
- Tooth resorption
- Periodontal disease
- Malocclusion
- Challenging extractions
- Root canal treatments
- Jaw fractures
- Stomatitis
- Feline orofacial pain syndrome
- Gingival hyperplasia
- Caries-cavities
- Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders
- Jaw-bone osteopathies
- Oral mass lesions
- Restorative work
- Crown placements
- …and more!
These conditions will be diagnosed and treated using a range of sophisticated equipment including dental radiography, CT scanning and endodontic and orthodontic instruments. Treatment will be performed in our specially designed Dental & Oral Surgery suite.
The referral Dentistry service at The Ralph will operate 5 days-a-week during most weeks of the year. It will be supported Out-of-Hours by our referral and primary care Emergency and Critical Care teams.
Our dentistry service is available for consultations for urgent and less urgent clinical cases. We are very happy to discuss cases, and specific problems, with referring vets.
One challenge in dentistry is the fact that many of the common diseases are hidden beneath the gum line. With this in mind, as with human dentistry, prevention is equally important. Our team is always happy to advise about oral homecare.
The referral Dentistry service at The Ralph is led by Simone Kirby, EBVS and RCVS recognised Specialist in Veterinary Dentistry. Let’s find out a bit more about Simone…
Making it all possible…
Simone Kirby
Simone graduated from Berlin University (Freie Universitaet Berlin) and moved to the UK soon after graduation. She became a member of the British Veterinary Dental Association in 1996. From 1999 to 2001, she underwent a residency in Veterinary Dentistry at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, USA.
Having become a Diplomate of the European Veterinary Dental College (EVDC) in 2004, Simone has taken on numerous roles on the College Board and EVDC Committees since then. She is also a past-President of the British Veterinary Dental Society (BVDS) and she was the Lecturer in Veterinary Dentistry at the Royal Veterinary College, London from 2012 to 2017.
Simone became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK in 2016 with a post-graduate Certificate in Veterinary Education. Up until recently, Simone has worked as a visiting referral consultant in private practice in Hertfordshire and North London, and is now a member of Team Ralph.
Simone and her husband, Steve share their home with two cats, Cookie & Neo. Simone has two step-children who are both studying at university. She was a London Marathon finisher in 2006 and enjoys a whole range of fitness, like HIIT, hiking, biking running, Pilates and weight-training. Simone loves honest good food, trying out new recipes, re-watching favourite old movies, checking out art-house movies (but avoiding the violent ones & definitely no horror!). Simone is involved with her local Church and would love to become more involved in volunteering and local community engagement!
Simone’s favourite quote is by Frank Zappa – “It isn’t necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice. There are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia.”
Thanks for stopping by and reading about our Dentistry service. Stay tuned for the next instalment – which service will be featured next?!
Take care,
The Ralph Team