About us Dr. Lana

Evergreen Veterinary Dentistry Services offers specialty professional dental care and oral surgery to cats and dogs on Vancouver Island. All of our services, ranging from straightforward dental cleanings to advanced oral surgeries, require a referral from your primary care veterinarian.

Your pet’s oral and dental health is just as important for their wellbeing as it is for yours. Just like in people, when oral health is not maintained, we open the door to a myriad of potential health problems. Even something as simple as plaque, which is the cornerstone of periodontal disease and is always on our teeth, can lead to painful infections down the road if it’s not properly managed with brushings and cleanings.

Evergreen Veterinary Dentistry Services is a family-run clinic, headed up by Dr. Lana Bissett. Dr. Bissett is the only Board Certified Veterinary Dentist™ specialist on Vancouver Island providing specialty services in veterinary dentistry and oral surgery. Dr. Bissett is only one of approximately 30 Board Certified Veterinary Dentist™ specialists across Canada. Our knowledge and training aside, we truly care about the wellbeing of your dogs and cats, treating them as we would our own. Everyone on our staff has, at some time or another, had to put a member of their fur family through a surgical procedure, so we all understand that surgery can be worrisome and scary.

We make the surgical process as easy as possible for you and your pet. At EVDS, you are a part of every step of the decision-making process, and when possible, we encourage you to step behind the scenes to ask questions and visit our procedure rooms. We want you to truly know that your pet is safe and comfortable through the entire dental surgery process.

We want your pet to have a happy and healthy life. At EVDS, our specialty dental and oral surgery services help give them that.

Our team will have access to a board certified veterinary anesthesiologist/criticalist for those patients requiring multiple discipline management. Arrangements can be made to review patient files and protocols, and virtually attend specific cases if needed. There will be an additional cost for this service that will be discussed with owners.

Dr. Lana Bissett is the only Board Certified Veterinary Dentist™ on Vancouver Island, and is a Diplomate of the American Veterinary Dental College™.

Originally from Saskatoon, Dr. Bissett completed a double honours in biology and physical geography studies at the University of Saskatchewan. She then went on to attend the school’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine, graduating in 2003.

Over the next few years, she completed an equine internship and practiced equine medicine and surgery in Alberta before leaving to share her expertise as Alberta District Veterinarian in the Animal Health Division at the CFIA. Here, she guided the import and export of live animals and animal goods, and reported on disease management.

In 2007 she returned to private practice, switching her focus to small animal emergency service in Edmonton, followed by a move to Vancouver Island. In 2015, she discovered her passion for oral care and surgery in cats and dogs, completed a residency program for advanced dentistry and oral surgery training in the U.S. and passed the rigorous written theory and surgical procedure board examination.

During her time in the United States, Dr. Bissett met her husband Damien, who worked alongside her during her residency program. Together, they moved to Victoria in 2020 to open EVDS.

Their own fur family includes a Black Labrador Retriever, Winston, and two cats they adopted in California, Shilo and Cedric.

As manager and owner, Damien oversees the daily operations of EVDS, by providing personalized, exceptional patient and client care.

Damien was born in Jacksonville, Florida but spent the majority of his childhood in Minnesota. In 1998 he returned to Florida to attend Fire Fighter Academy and EMT/Paramedic School, spending several years providing services as a firefighter and advanced life support paramedic.

His experience as a paramedic led him to work within hospital emergency rooms and trauma care facilities. He also spent time at a private physician/urgent care office, where he worked with patients in a more personal setting.

In 2017, Damien moved to Denver, Colorado, to open an urgent care clinic and met Dr. Lana Bissett. Together, they moved to California in 2018 as Dr. Bissett completed her advanced dentistry residency program.

Damien’s extensive medical knowledge led to him taking on a veterinary assistant position to Dr. Bissett in 2019. The pair worked side-by-side to ensure quality animal/client services and care before moving to Vancouver Island in 2020.

Kathy is a Registered Veterinary Technician with a passion for dentistry. She is currently attending the Academy of Veterinary Dental Technicians Program, where she is set to become a Veterinary Technician Specialist.

Kathy has a special place in her heart for service dogs, senior pets and farm animal sanctuaries. She’s had many rescue animals and pets over the years, including guinea pigs, bunnies, cats and dogs. She currently has two dogs, a pair of dachshund siblings named Gus and Tasha, along with four cats: Jem, Scout, Mycroft and Miffy.

Ashley has been working as a registered veterinary technician in Ontario since 2013. She developed a strong interest in dentistry and obtained her licence in dental hygiene in 2020. Ashley recently moved to British Columbia and looks forward to pursuing her passion to work with animals and using her new found knowledge in dentistry.
In her free time, Ashley enjoys the outdoors, going on hikes or spending time by the ocean with her 2 dogs, Nala and Angel.

Brittany graduated from Thompson Rivers University’s AHT program in 2007 and obtained her VTS (Dentistry) in 2016. She has lived in the lower mainland and also spent time in San Diego and Minnesota working as an RVT. She has settled here in Victoria with her family which includes her cat Piggy and her dog Bijou

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