Dental, oral, and maxillofacial diseases are some of the most common problems in small animal veterinary practice. These conditions create significant pain as well as localized and potentially systemic infection. As such, the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) believes that un‐ and under treated oral and dental diseases pose a significant animal welfare concern. Dentistry is an area of veterinary medicine which is still widely ignored and is subject to many myths and misconceptions. Effective teaching of veterinary dentistry in the veterinary school is the key to progression in this field of veterinary medicine, and to the improvement of welfare for all our patients globally.These guidelines were developed to provide veterinarians with the information required to understand best practices for dental therapy and create realistic minimum standards of care. Using the three‐tiered continuing education system of WSAVA, the guidelines make global equipment and therapeutic recommendations and highlight the anaesthetic and welfare requirements for small animal patients.This document contains information on common oral and dental pathologies, diagnostic procedures (an easily implementable and repeatable scoring system for dental health, dental radiography and radiology) and treatments (periodontal therapy, extractions). Further, there are sections on anaesthesia and pain management for dental procedures, home dental care, nutritional information, and recommendations on the role of the universities in improving veterinary dentistry. A discussion of the deleterious effects of anaesthesia free dentistry (AFD) is included, as this procedure is ineffective at best and damaging at worst. Throughout the document the negative effects of undiagnosed and/or treated dental disease on the health and well‐being of our patients, and how this equates to an animal welfare issue, is discussed.

The authors have drawn upon, wherever possible, an evidence base relating strictly to the feline patient. Where there is a lack of published research, evidence from canine and human studies is assessed.

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Accelerated radiation therapy protocols address the specific biology of aggressive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma and this approach was applied in 5 feline and 3 canine oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma patients where surgery was not possible (4/5 feline and 2/3 canine cases) or was declined (1/5 feline and 1/3 canine cases). A protocol using 14 fractions of 3.5 Gy over 9-days, combined with carboplatin chemotherapy as a radiosensitiser (total dose 180 mg/m2 in feline and 300 mg/m2 in canine cases) resulted in a complete tumor response in most cases (4/5 feline and 3/3 canine cases) with acceptable acute and long-term side effects. Results achieved in feline cases correspond with published data where these specific radiotherapy protocols were employed. A complete response and long-term survival (> 2-years) was achieved in all canine patients. Although no standardized chemoradiotherapy protocols currently exist, this therapeutic approach can be a useful addition for the management of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma of cats and dogs when the goals of treatment include maximizing tumor control while maintaining function and quality of life.

Acute <em>Lantana camara</em> poisoning in a Boer goat kid is described. The animal was part of a flock of boer goats that was introduced from the Kalahari thornveld, where the plant does not occur, to an area where the plant grew abundantly. At necropsy, the animal was severely icteric, dehydrated and constipated, with hepatosis, distention of the gall-bladder and nephrosis, but no skin lesions. Histopathological findings of the liver confirmed moderate hepatosis with single-cell necrosis and bile stasis. The pathology is consistent with that described in acute <em>Lantana</em> poisoning in cattle, sheep and goats. The absence of photosensitisation may be attributed to relatively mild liver damage, or the rapid course of this toxicosis