Gerhard Putter is the head of our new dental service, one of only a very few specialist-led veterinary dentistry, oral and maxillofacial surgery centres in Europe. Gerhard, a Small Animal Dentistry and Oral Surgery Specialist travelled to Borneo with colleagues, to undertake a busy volunteer schedule working with local vets and teaching workshops.
Among the highlights of the trip was the presentation of a much-needed dental unit DWR donated to the Orangutan Veterinary Aid (OVAID), a charity which supplies veterinary surgeons working with orangutans in the region, including Malaysia and Indonesia, with vital equipment.
OVAID organised and sponsored the teaching trip, which also included Laurent Locquet, on of our Specialist cardiologists and Aleksandr Semjonov, a specialist Anaesthetist from Estonia.
They spent a week teaching at the Orangutan Veterinary Advisory Group (OVAG) workshop, followed by a week doing clinical cases with local and visiting vets at the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation in Samboja Lestari, where the dental unit is now being used.
Gerhard said: “Many animals at these centres require dentistry but until now the veterinary surgeons had very basic instruments to extract challenging teeth, so this dental unit will be invaluable.
“We had an enjoyable and informative time installing the dental unit and training the veterinary team at the centre, who clearly have a passion for their work and the welfare of orangutans.”
OVAID, who also supplied digital dental radiography to the BOS Foundation, is keen to accept donated veterinary equipment, especially dentistry. To learn more about OVAID, visit https://www.ovaid.org/. OVAID is happy to accept used dentistry equipment and have it serviced before it is delivered to the orangutan rescue centres.
Read how Dias the orangutan is back in the wild thanks to DWR Veterinary Specialists.