Senior dental nurse Jacci Plant is the owner of Basil the Beagle and came up with the idea of offering pet therapy. She underwent training and now has the title of Animal Assisted Practitioner. Together, she and Basil provide one to one therapy, meeting patients in the practice waiting area and then going into the appointment with them.

Said Jacci: ‘I will be in the surgery with him and he will sit beside the chair, he’s quite a solid little chap so may be a bit heavy to sit on someone’s lap!’

‘Pet therapy is something I have always been interested in and I knew Basil has the ideal laid-back temperament to make a fantastic therapy dog. I also knew that pet therapy worked well in other clinical settings or where people have additional needs such as mental health issues or learning disabilities.’

Having Basil as a therapy dog is a pilot scheme but Jacci says there has already been a lot of interest when she has been in the dental practice. There are no cross infection control implications as a therapy pet has the same classification as a guide dog.

Jacci works with the Community Dental Service Community Interest Company (CDS-CIC) in Suffolk. CDS-CIC, which operate eight clinics across the County, are starting a pilot of the pet therapy programme in selected locations and identifying patients who may benefit from being accompanied by Basil during their treatments.

Amy Schiller, Operations Director said: ‘We provide special care and paediatric dentistry and many of our patients, adults and children, have additional needs or severe dental anxiety and may require extensive treatment. Reducing anxiety is very important and Basil will be one technique we can use to help patients relax and feel more comfortable about having treatment. Overall this is important, because with some patients it may make all the difference between being able to tolerate treatment without more invasive means such as sedation.’