Management of Dental Disease in Eared Seals (family Otariidae): a Delphi Approach

Claire Simeone^1,2,3*Nora Schwitzer^4,5Shawn P Johnson^1,2José Almansa Ruiz⁶Yves Debosschere⁷Judy Force⁸Aaron Forsayeth⁹Jerzy Pawel Gawor¹⁰Margherita Gracis¹¹Steven Holmstrom¹²Loic Legendre¹³Lisa Alexandra Mestrinho^14,15Arlete R Sogorb¹⁶Gerhard Steenkamp^17,18Rebecca Tucker⁹Cedric Tutt¹⁹Ignacio Velázquez Urgel²⁰Allison Woody¹

• ¹Sea Change Health, Sunnyvale, United States
• ²Fundación Oceanogràfic de la Comunitat Valenciana, Valencia, Spain
• ³Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Vallejo, United States
• ⁴Dublin zoo, Dublin, Ireland
• ⁵MyVet Referral, Dublin, Ireland
• ⁶Bristol Vet Specialists, Bristol, England, United Kingdom
• ⁷Veterinary Dental Services & Tsavran Consulting, Waregem, Belgium
• ⁸Dentistry for Animals, Aptos, California, United States
• ⁹Advanced Animal Dentistry, Brisbane, Australia
• ¹⁰Klinika Arka, Kraków, Lesser Poland, Poland
• ¹¹Clinica Veterinaria San Siro, Milan, Lombardy, Italy
• ¹²Peter Emily International Veterinary Dentistry Foundation, San Pedro, California, United States
• ¹³West Coast Veterinary Dental Services, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
• ¹⁴Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
• ¹⁵Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Sciences (AL4AnimalS), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
• ¹⁶Research in Veterinary Medicine (I-MVET), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Lusófona University, Lisbon University Centre, Lisbon, Portugal
• ¹⁷Department of Companion Animal Clinical Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
• ¹⁸Centre for Veterinary Wildlife Research, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
• ¹⁹The Veterinary Dentist, Cape Town, South Africa
• ²⁰Odontovets, Barcelona, Spain

Objective: Published literature is sparse on topics associated with eared seal (otariid) dentistry. The objective of this study was to establish consensus on effective management of dental disease in otariids, using a Delphi approach. Methods: A total of twenty-five veterinarians with experience managing dental disease in seven species of otariids participated in the Delphi process. Results: Oral lesions and their contributing risk factors were ranked according to perceived frequency. Consensus statements for best practices were agreed upon for a variety of topics within the categories of planning and preparation, procedural details, intervention strategies, and postoperative care. Panelist comments were collated into a supplementary file to assist clinicians in forming their own conclusions on topics for which no consensus yet exists. Conclusion: Opportunities for future research include factors associated with oral lesions, ideal anesthetic management, identification of ideal candidates for endodontic therapies, ideal local and regional anesthesia, ideal suture and closure techniques, particularly with the goal of reducing dehiscence as a postoperative complication, and ideal postoperative care options.