February is traditionally recognized as National Pet Dental Health Awareness Month. Which side of the aisle do you fall on? Are you a "dental care is not a month" party member or do you find yourself in the "dental month" supporter camp? In the veterinary world this seems to be a much-debated topic, almost as divided as politics have been. I set out to talk to as many veterinary professionals across the U.S. as I could, via social media, socially distanced of course, to find out if their practices promote "dental month" in February and what, if any, dental care promotions are implemented

I received some direct responses about how strongly they felt about dental month and "only" promoting dental care one month out of the year. This was expected as I know from years of marketing various services and programs in veterinary practices, every single owner I ever worked for had their own opinions about dental month. I knew this topic would bring out some of those responses, and I appreciate the value of that discussion. I was not surprised by the level of knowledge, passion, and commitment shared by all the veterinary team members who shared their thoughts with me. The heart and passion for pets and their dental care and to creatively blend the success of the practice into those marketing decisions is amazing to see. As per usual, the generosity of sharing knowledge and experience with others was abundant from this group of professionals.

No matter if you are on the dental month bandwagon or if you happily jumped off in favor of a year-round approach, I am here to share what I have collected to help the practices promote dental care for the patients of the practice. Some are ingenious, and I wish I would have thought of them myself years ago! I do want to say I am not compensated for any of the ideas or opinions shared within this article. The ideas and opinions are those of the folks who shared them. Evaluating what is good for your team, your patients, and practice can only be done by you. This is a compilation of resources and ideas that were shared with me.

Tips from veterinary technicians

The response to my request for ideas for dental promotion and marketing was quick and interesting to see. There were a few short discussions and debates on why some are no long observing a month instead of promoting dental care year-round. Here is input from technicians in the trenches:

• Kim Jacobs of Corinth Veterinary Clinic, Corinth, Texas: "We stopped doing typical 'dental month.' When we recognize a need for dental care, if the owner schedules within four weeks, we offer a 20 percent d樂威壯