The current VIN date & time: Eastern

ANES116-0123: Anesthesia for the Small Animal Dentistry Patient

The lectures for this course will be presented via the Zoom webinar platform.

Presenter: Kimberly Hassen, DVM, ACVAA
Course Open: January 30–February 16, 2023
Real Time Sessions (RTS): Monday, February 6, 2023; 8:00-9:30 pm ET (USA) World Clock Converter
Total CE Credit: 1.5
RACE Category: 1.5 hours Medical


Enrollment is closed.  

Tuition: Member $35 ($31 early bird special if enrolled by January 16, 2023)
Non-Member $95 ($89 early bird special if enrolled by January 16, 2023)
Prices are listed in US dollars.


Course Information:
In order to take a holistic approach to the anesthetic event of a dental patient, this course first briefly discusses anxiolysis, antiemesis, and analgesia. The course then focuses on common comorbidities in the type of patient that frequently needs to undergo anesthesia for dental procedures. Comorbidities discussed include mitral valve disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, renal disease, and diabetes mellitus. Example protocols are provided; however, the goal of this course is to empower you to feel more confident in devising your own protocols for your patients with these common comorbidities. This course covers basic pharmacology and physiology relevant to the typical small animal dentistry patient. It is not these basic sciences that are challenging, but the creative approach required to integrate and apply it all to each individual patient.


Learning Objectives:
Upon completion of the course, the participant should be able to
  • Consider a multi-faceted approach to keeping dental patients comfortable in the form of anxiolytic, antiemetic, and analgesic medications.
  • Review the pathophysiology of the most common cardiac diseases in dentistry patients, including mitral valve disease and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Learn which diagnostics are important to have prior to anesthetizing these patients and see sample appropriate anesthetic protocols.
  • Review basic renal physiology in order to minimize the risk of anesthesia in patients with renal disease.
  • Learn to proactively manage a patient with diabetes mellitus that undergoes general anesthesia for an elective procedure.


Level and Prerequisites: This intermediate VIN CE course is open for enrollment to veterinarians interested in dental anesthesia.
Accreditation: This course is approved for 1.5 hours of continuing education credit by RACE for veterinarians. (RACE 20-858907)


Course Agenda:

Week 1 (Real Time Session February 6, 2023): Anesthesia for the Small Animal Dentistry Patient
We will discuss anxiolytic, antiemetic, and analgesic strategies relevant to the dentistry patient. We then will discuss anesthesia as it pertains to cardiac disease, renal disease, and diabetes mellitus; specifically: what diagnostics are important to have prior to anesthesia; what anesthetic drugs are safe for patients with these diseases; and strategies to mitigate the risk associated with their anesthesia.


Successful completion (scoring 80% or better) on the end-of-course test is required to earn a certificate of completion for the course. To learn more about the requirements for earning a CE certificate, please refer to Receiving Your CE Credit and Course Completion Certificate.

Course Materials: Course materials will be available in the course library prior to each Real Time Session.
Required Textbook(s): There is no required textbook for this course.


Enrollment is closed.  

Tuition: Member $35 ($31 early bird special if enrolled by January 16, 2023)
Non-Member $95 ($89 early bird special if enrolled by January 16, 2023)
Prices are listed in US dollars.


*To ensure participants are ready and prepared for classes, enrollment will close on January 30, 2023 at 5 pm ET (USA) or when the maximum number of participants is reached.

*For more information on how online CE works, see the Participant Resource Center.


Enrollment qualifications:
  1. VIN CE Courses:
    1. VIN CE courses are open to VIN member, VIN student member, and non-member veterinarians.
    2. Veterinary support staff must be VSPN members in order to enroll in a VIN CE course open to VSPN member enrollment.
  2. VSPN CE Courses:
    1. VSPN CE courses are open to veterinary support staff and veterinarians.
    2. Only VIN and VSPN members can enroll in a VSPN CE course.
    3. Veterinarians will only receive credit for those VSPN CE courses that specify in the Accreditation statement that the course is accredited for veterinarians.
  3. Please check the course Level and Prerequisites, Accreditation, and Tuition before enrolling.
  4. Each enrollee must be able to receive emails from @vspn.org and @vin.com addresses.
    1. Email is our major form of communication with participants; personal emails are highly recommended rather than clinic/hospital email addresses.
  5. For further assistance call 800-846-0028 ext. 797 or email CEonVIN@vin.com. Please include the course title, your full name, and contact information in your correspondence.


Course withdrawal and refund policy: A complete refund of the paid course price will be issued when your withdrawal request is received prior to the listed start date of the course. If you wish to withdraw after the start date please contact the VIN office 800-846-0028 ext. 797 to discuss eligibility for a pro-rated refund.

*For more information on VIN's upcoming CE courses, check the VIN Course Catalog.

Katherine James, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM)
VIN Education Director

VIN CE Services: CEonVIN@vin.com
800-846-0028 or 530-756-4881; ext. 797
or direct line to VIN/VSPN from the United Kingdom: 01 45 222 6154
or direct line to VIN/VSPN from Australia: 02 6145 2357