Connecticut practice fills a void by focusing on dental care for animals.
Article by Cheryl Rice
Photos by Shana Sureck
You might not realize it, but dental issues are the number one health problem for companion animals like dogs and cats. Almost 70 percent of them experience some form of periodontal disease by the age of three, and that can lead to serious health and pain issues for them the same way that it can for people. That’s the challenge that Dr. Jean Herrman takes on at Companion Animal Dental Services in Bolton.
“Most veterinarians don’t get much in the way of dental training,” she said. “Then they are expected to go into practice and perform dentistry.”
Because so many veterinarians struggle to fit dental care, which can be expensive and time consuming, into their already busy practices, many of them are looking for solutions that will provide better options for their patients’ dental care needs. Dr. Herrman has worked to fill that need since her earliest days of caring for animals.
She attended veterinary school at U.C. Davis, where her curriculum included dental training. “Not many people had that at that time,” she recalled. After graduation, she worked for eight of her fourteen general practice years in a veterinary practice where she focused on dental care
She attended veterinary school at U.C. Davis, where her curriculum included dental training. “Not many people had that at that time,” she recalled. After graduation, she worked for eight of her fourteen general practice years in a veterinary practice where she focused on dental care.
Most practices simply don’t have the luxury of keeping a veterinarian dedicated to dentistry on staff full-time, but it became clear to Dr. Herrman that focusing on these needs was allowing the practice to provide better outcomes for their patients. Dental care was no longer just an afterthought. Her success in this specialty sparked her first idea for a business.
Dr. Herrman began to offer her services as a travelling dental provider for veterinarians. While the idea was popular, setting herself up as a business was not something she knew much about. “You don’t learn much about business in veterinary school,” she laughed. “I needed to do a business plan and I didn’t know how to begin.”
She began with a call to the University of Hartford’s Entrepreneurial Center & Women’s Business Center. After sitting in on a complimentary new business seminar, she signed up for a full course on starting a business. The course, along with one-on-one appointments with her business advisor, Milena Erwin, helped her to construct a business plan to guide her and she was off.
Over the next several years, she built the “travelling dental provider” concept into a thriving practice. Veterinarians were eager to offer her specialty services to their patients, and her business model allowed her to charge fees that were accessible to most pet owners.
In 2016, she was ready for the next phase—her own practice location. She secured the location in Bolton and then slowly began to transition away from travelling. She now works full-time from her office and her business has continued to accelerate rapidly. She stays booked up at least a month in advance.
“It’s always been my goal to make these vital services accessible and to provide better services to more clients,” she said. “This dentistry-focused practice allows us to provide more attention to detail, keep good records for each of our patients, and have all the right equipment on-hand.”
More pet owners are starting to recognize the importance of proper dental care for their animals and the demands on Dr. Herrman’s time are increasing. She has become a trusted provider for many area vets who regularly send her referrals. She is now getting ready to take the next step, a larger location with possibly two or three new hires. She also wants to own, rather than rent, her practice location. So she plans to return to the Women’s Business Center for advice.
“The Women’s Business Center gave me confidence,” she said. “I loved meeting the people and being exposed to all kinds of businesses in the business planning course. I also met many of my professional business contacts there and have utilized their services to grow my own business. The staff has also kept in contact with me and has provided unsolicited and much appreciated guidance. I’ll go back to them to help me grow and develop the next phase of my business plan.”
Helping to meet the widespread need for focused animal dental care has become an all-encompassing passion for Dr. Herrman. She works regularly with rescue organizations to help with dental treatments and she has volunteered with Protectors of Animals as the triage vet for homeless animals in the Hartford area. She has also travelled to the Gulf of Mexico to aid a team studying the long-term health effects of a devastating oil spill on their population of dolphins.
She has seen first-hand how proper dental care can help alleviate suffering and improve health in companion animals, and she wants to spread the word. “That’s my vision,” she said. “To provide quality dental care in a low-stress, attentive way, focused on the pets. And to educate pet owners about how much proper dental care can enhance their animals’ lives.”