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About Peter Emily

Figure 1 Ed Eisner and Peter Emily, on Mulholland Drive, Burbank, CA USA, after completing a Dental Rescue in southern California, USA, 2009.

Peter Emily, a practicing dentist for people, has studied comparative odontology and has a passion for helping improve the oral health of wild, as well as pet animals since 1969. He has dedicated decades of his life to improving oral health and comfort, especially for captive animals; animals that have been rescued from abusive, illegal, or financially unsustainable situations and placed in “retirement facilities,” sanctuaries where they can safely live the rest of their life to the fullest. He was my mentor, providing me with a dental education far exceeding any the finest veterinary schools had to offer in the 1980s and beyond. I will always be indebted to Peter for teaching me the technical nuances of dental practice, but even more so for the many dental insights that help elevate a good dental practice to that of one providing exceptional outcomes. The key to his brilliance and the value of his teachings has, even more than the technical education, been the sharing of the art of case assessment and treatment planning. The technical aspect of good dentistry is a cookbook science, achievable in several years of diligent study. The successful art of case assessment and therapeutic planning is the result of many more years of astute observation and creative application of those technical skills. These skills are never needed more than when dealing with the complex problems of large and small wildlife mammals and birds that are the residents of sanctuaries, zoos, and the natural habitats throughout the world. This is where Peter Emily excels, and this is where he is most comfortable.

1982

For eight years people who knew of both Pete and my interest in veterinary dentistry kept telling us we should meet and finally we did. It was in November, 1982. Peter was a certified national dog show judge. He performed dentistry on dogs and cats and sometimes on the animals at the Denver Zoo, Denver, Colorado USA. In 1982, at the inauguration of the new animal hospital at the Denver Zoo, someone who knew both Pete and I, spotted us at the soiree and introduced us to each other. That was the beginning of a many‐decade friendship. In February of 1983, Peter and I travelled together to the Western States Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada where the American Veterinary Dental Society was having one of its first meetings. A few of the pioneers of the veterinary dental evolution, Gary Beard, Ben Colmery, Tom Mulligan, Don Ross, and Chuck Williams, were delivering dental presentations. Peter and I had found our home; people who spoke our language. These were not the only people dabbling in veterinary dentistry at the time, but they were among the first. Bob Wiggs, Colin Harvey, Sandra Manfra Marretta, Keith Grove, Steve Holmstrom, Ron Gammon, Gary Goldstein, Ken Lyon, and Chris Visser were also among the pioneers. They and Pete and I all bonded quickly. We all felt the calling, we were all accomplished photographers and could share our work visually, we all didn’t mind travelling to spread the word, and we all knew that we had something important to give to veterinary medicine.

Pete came to my small animal practice every Thursday for the next three years. He would identify dental problems while performing as a dog show judge, and have the owners schedule for dental treatment at my office. I would also identify dogs and cats within my practice that needed advanced‐level dental care and schedule them for Thursdays. Peter was an artist. He was a real artist. He not only performed excellent root canal therapy, gold crown work, and periodontal surgery, he also made bronze sculptures and gold pendant jewelry from dental gold. Weekly, for three years, I learned dentistry by the side of Peter. Peter was, in reality, a frenetic artist, but he was not a businessman. He cared little about fees, which are so very important for the survival of any for‐profit practice. He just wanted to help the animals.

Peter would not have anything to do with fees for services, and I arranged for Peter to take home the fee for the dental procedure itself, while I retained the fees for the examination, anesthesia, hospitalization and dispensed medications. It resulted in approximately a 50:50 split, with Pete reluctantly letting me stuff a check into his shirt pocket as he packed up to leave my office each week.

Pete was a very significant positive force in the acceleration of the evolution of veterinary dentistry. A number of us had been performing advanced‐level animal dentistry since the 1970s, but Pete helped further educate the pioneers in veterinary dentistry and gave us the knowledge to improve our animal dental services. Pete was instrumental in creating the first two important examinations; first the qualifying examination for the newly formed Academy of Veterinary Dentistry (AVD) in 1986, and, second, the qualifying examination for the American Veterinary Dental College (AVDC) in 1989. He lectured throughout the world, teaching and preaching the value of advanced level dental care for animals.

2005: The beginning of the Peter Emily International Veterinary Dental Foundation

The late Robert Bruce Wiggs of Dallas, TX, another of the original veterinary dental pioneers in its modern evolution, was in Denver. Pete invited Bob and myself to coffee at a breakfast restaurant. He shared with us that he had recently received a significant and unexpected return on an earlier investment.

Pete, age 73, viewed this as a chance to fulfill his dream, to help captive animals throughout the world, and he wanted some close friends to help manage the project. First, with Peter’s participation, we enlisted Steve Holmstrom, veterinary dentist from San Carlos, CA, and Ron Ferrendelli, a local fellow dentist and former classmate of Peter, along with Bert Dodd, another veterinary dentist then of Austin, TX. We established a plan to generate enough working capital to launch a small private foundation while conserving his assets. The Board of Directors was expanded and membership adjusted. Susanne Pilla was hired as Managing Director of the private foundation formed in 2005, and which in turn became the public 501(c)(3) charitable Peter Emily International Veterinary Dental Foundation (PEIVDF). Three years after the birth of his idea, Peter’s Foundation had three sets of portable dental equipment and thirty clinicians who donated their time, talent and energy several times a year to mount rescue missions to animal sanctuaries and zoos throughout the United States, providing free dental care to African lions, tigers, mountain lions, bears, primates, herbivores, birds, and other captive animals. As of writing this book, the PEIVDF has a thirteen‐person Board of Directors, and nine‐person Advisory Committee to help plan rescue missions. Today, the Foundation is setting up its most ambitious undertaking so far ‐ affiliating with operations in South Africa. Peter’s dream is becoming a reality.

Peter Emily has received national and international recognition, including from the American Animal Hospital Association. He is also the namesake of veterinary dental awards distributed at the Annual Veterinary Dental Forum each year. He will long be recognized as a giant in the field of veterinary dentistry and as a very special person in the hearts of all who have known him. He is one of a kind. His knowledge of comparative odontology is immense. It is a great privilege for me to be able to help him compile this information for all to see and share and for the benefit of animals now and in the future that will be the benefactors of this shared information.

Edward R. Eisner, AB, DVM

Diplomate American Veterinary Dental College Founding Certificate Holder in Zoo and Wildlife Dentistry