332d AIR EXPEDITIONARY WING -- The 332d Expeditionary Medical Group Dental Clinic partnered with 248th Medical Detachment Veterinary Service Support, 3rd Medical Command, to perform a tooth extraction and cleaning for a 332d Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron military working dog at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, March 10.
Dental care is vital for military working dogs to be mission ready and MWD BBasso needed treatment for a broken tooth.
Staff Sgt. Ryan Duggan, 332d ESFS military working dog handler, noticed something wrong with MWD BBasso during a routine health check and promptly contacted U.S. Army Maj. Colleen Dwyer, veterinary corps officer.
Dwyer examined Bbasso and noticed he had a fractured incisor.
In a typical setting, Dwyer would have performed the tooth extraction with help from an animal care specialist, but with limited resources and manning, Dwyer reached out to the 332d EMDG dental team for assistance.
Maj. Christina Pflipsen, 332d EMDG medical operations commander and chief of dental services, and Tech. Sgt. Chantell Mosby, 332d EMDG dental technician, jumped at the chance to help get MWD Bbasso back into the fight.
While Dwyer kept MWD Bbasso comfortable under general anesthesia, the dental team imaged the fractured tooth, extracted it and cleaned MWD Bbasso’s teeth.
Mosby performed the teeth cleaning and commented on how rare it is for her to support the MWD mission. “It was exciting to get the call about helping with the tooth extraction,” said Mosby. “This is not something we do at home station, so it was a great experience.”
Duggan was onsite throughout the procedure.
“I was very happy with how well BBasso behaved both before and after the procedure,” said Duggan. “It was impressive to see how well our dental team and veterinarian worked together.”