Dentist or vet??

[Belmont]

I've always used an EDT, because my understanding is that they spend years of dedicated study on the horse's mouth, whereas a vet won't spend a fraction of that time. My EDT is fantastic and I've never had a problem. However my new horse is a total git with vets and other professionals, so has to be sedated and so this year I'll be using the vet for the first time for both horses. Having read this thread, I'll be interested to see if anything is flagged up...!

 

[Smogul]

EDT recommended by vet. I don't think our practice has a dedicated dental vet but other practice used by yard does.

 

[Hollylee1989]

My shetland always backs up to the corner having his teeth done, because he did that the dentist refused to touch him. Then she said he had a fractured tooth, and was glad she didn't need to touch him. Shouted at my other horse too for moving back slightly, clearly in the wrong job. I've used the vet since

 

[Tiddlypom]

I thought that I had done my due diligence when choosing my former EDT. I was recommended to use them first hand by an extremely eminent EDT who everyone has heard of. Additionally, a well known and experienced former forum member also used them and recommended them.

Please, no one out this EDT on here if you work out who it is, but I honestly thought that my horses were in good hands. Maybe they were, but as time goes on standards have lapsed. It is much harder for an owner to be sure that an equine dentist of any flavour is doing a good job of the teeth than it is to check foot care.

Also, how common is it for clients to be issued with a written report complete with dental diagram for each horse after every visit? It's new for me, and so very helpful in visualising what/where the issues are/work has been done. Specialist vet dentist pops the info into his iPad when he's here and emails me the details later the same day.

ETA like this.

 

[SEL]

My move to using a vet was accidental. The first yard I had the Appy & Ardennes on we used to block book a very good EDT & his team and so the vet could come any point that morning and sedated the tricky ones without trying to tie up diaries.

I moved yards. A few weeks later an EDT who seems pretty well known on social media was doing some of new yard teeth. Without asking he shoved his hand in M's mouth (tied on yard minding his own business) & announced he had sharp points & was missing a tooth. I was surprised and my inner BS radar started to beep. Given M had only been done recently I opted to not have him done there & then but I did phone my vet.

Out pops the vets a few days later. Gives him just a little sedative (trust me you can't hold up the head of an over sedated Ardennes!) and has a feel. All fine. Definitely no broken tooth.

And I got a very, very large eye roll when I told her who the dentist was. So rather than yard politics I just kept using the vet.

 

[Widgeon]

Also, how common is it for clients to be issued with a written report complete with dental diagram for each horse after every visit?

Our dentist (who isn't a vet) sends one of these for each horse a few days after he's visited.

 

[TPO]

My EDT has an equine dentistry degree, fully BAEDT/BEVA trained and qualified.

I could have written half the posts above about how brilliant my EDT was, how excellent an owner I was getting 6-9mths dental and I got a written report, and later an emailed version, after every visit.

The vet commented on how good a "floating" job the edt had done; no waves, ramps or hooks. However the EDT had missed a very serious issue that by all accounts has been present since adult teeth came through. The likelihood is that he couldn't see properly because he works on unsedated horses. With a sedated horse and a supported head it is much easier to have a thorough look and do a consistent job.

I would have died on the "EDT over Vet" Hill and I have waxed lyrical about my EDT previously. I've learned the hard way.

The Equine Dental Clinic, who the inital vet referred to, cover the whole of the UK. They are specialists in this field and I'm extremely fortunate that all of the horses will be done by them going forward.

A lot of vets have done additional and advanced dental training and based on the h3ll I'm currently going through, triggered by a dental issue, I'd urge everyone to have their horses teeth done sedated and preferably by a GOOD veterinary dental specialist.

I'd also encourage everyone to fact check some of the guff "advice" and opinions given about dental on the various dental threads running just now. Empty vessels male the most sound! The information is widely available and there's no excuse for ignorance.

 

[Arzada]

Also, how common is it for clients to be issued with a written report complete with dental diagram for each horse after every visit?

EDT emails a similar report immediately after he's finished with Arzada ie while still on the yard and before the next horse.

 

[Surbie]

This seems very similar to the whole farrier vs trimmer debate with people being entrenched in their views. But there are good and bad in both. Surely you do your homework in terms of reputation and qualifications and make the best choice you can for your horse?

 

[tristar]

i have a vet dentist, who says no way can you inspect or treat the very back teeth without sedation.

also i can see what the farrier has done easily, i have done the horses feet myself for years, a top class vet recommended a farrier for a special procedure, i am now going outside to correct the work done by him.

am thinking of getting a gag so i can have a good look in there and seeing whats what on a regular basis and learning to identify problems that need correction

its a blxxdy minefield, hooves and teeth

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Interested to know who the EDT is that says teeth are broken when they are not!! The last EDT I had out said exactly this about my horse!! But didn't show me. Horse tells me in no uncertain terms if anything is wrong and he has been fine in the mouth. Will be interested to see what vet says.

 

[SEL]

My EDT has an equine dentistry degree, fully BAEDT/BEVA trained and qualified.

I could have written half the posts above about how brilliant my EDT was, how excellent an owner I was getting 6-9mths dental and I got a written report, and later an emailed version, after every visit.

The vet commented on how good a "floating" job the edt had done; no waves, ramps or hooks. However the EDT had missed a very serious issue that by all accounts has been present since adult teeth came through. The likelihood is that he couldn't see properly because he works on unsedated horses. With a sedated horse and a supported head it is much easier to have a thorough look and do a consistent job.

I would have died on the "EDT over Vet" Hill and I have waxed lyrical about my EDT previously. I've learned the hard way.

The Equine Dental Clinic, who the inital vet referred to, cover the whole of the UK. They are specialists in this field and I'm extremely fortunate that all of the horses will be done by them going forward.

A lot of vets have done additional and advanced dental training and based on the h3ll I'm currently going through, triggered by a dental issue, I'd urge everyone to have their horses teeth done sedated and preferably by a GOOD veterinary dental specialist.

I'd also encourage everyone to fact check some of the guff "advice" and opinions given about dental on the various dental threads running just now. Empty vessels male the most sound! The information is widely available and there's no excuse for ignorance.

I've just had a look on their website. You're obviously not local to them so do you wait until they are in your area to get your horses booked in?

None of mine have any problems that I'm aware of but I've always been on top of annual checks and contemplating getting confirmation of the 'no problems' from a team of experts.

 

[TPO]

I've just had a look on their website. You're obviously not local to them so do you wait until they are in your area to get your horses booked in?

None of mine have any problems that I'm aware of but I've always been on top of annual checks and contemplating getting confirmation of the 'no problems' from a team of experts.

In Scotland at least they travel and host clinics all over the place.

I took mum's horse to a host clinic for a tooth removal, and now my horse went to a very local one for a procedure.

I'm less than 1 mile from one of the places that holds clinics, and I'm under an hour away from the specialist. The specialist has come out to me a couple of times after the initial procedure because of complications (not caused by specialist!). When he was last out I asked if they did routine dental and if he would do our three. He said as they work on referrals they don't tend to do dental because they don't want to take clients from vets. I explained we had been using an EDT, not the referring vet, so they are happy to come out to do routine dental for them.

He's treated two out of our three now and knows they are well behaved. He said that with unknowns they prefer going to a clinic to use the stocks.

EDC aside I know of vets who are specialising and setting up to do solely (sedated) dental work.

 

[ycbm]

i have a vet dentist, who says no way can you inspect ...... the very back teeth without sedation

This has to be nonsense, sorry. An EDT can open the gag just as far as the vet can. An EDT has a torch and eye's the same as a vet does.

In a horse that is quiet and steady for the EDT without sedation, I can't see the slightest reason why the EDT should not be able to inspect the back teeth the same way the vet does.

I suspect that there are good EDTs all over the country who would snort with derision at this claim.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Anyone can snort with derision all they like.

You can check and float the back of the mouth much better with the horse sedated and its head supported on a chin rest.

 

[ycbm]

Anyone can snort with derision all they like.

You can check and float the back of the mouth much better with the horse sedated and its head supported on a chin rest.

You can also check more easily if the horse is sedated enough to force the mouth open further than is safe for the TMJ without the horse protesting, and I've seen vets do that.

I've also seen a front tooth removed by a specialist dentist vet who fought it for an absolute age, all the while telling me that when it came out the root would be dead, and that's why the tooth needed removing. When it came out it was clearly alive and perfectly healthy and the vet went pink with embarrassment. It's my believe that more conservative treatment for the cracked top would have saved the tooth, a front one in a 6 year old horse.

I also had a horse of mine given a respiratory virus with a dental procedure. He had been nowhere and met nobody but the vet. Vet was not using any noticeable disinfectant in the bucket or on the tools.

The same horse was done 3 months early by an EDT after a sedated session with the vet and the EDT was unimpressed with the work the dentist had done (but told me that only reluctantly after very direct questionning).

There is, like in foot care, good and bad.

I've asked you already, and of course there is no possible answer, how to tell the good from the bad.

The best advice on this thread is to use people by recommendation.
.

 

[ycbm]

I remember Janet George once posting an absolute tirade against the vet who had allowed a horse of hers to develop a wave mouth.
.

 

[tristar]

This has to be nonsense, sorry. An EDT can open the gag just as far as the vet can. An EDT has a torch and eye's the same as a vet does.

In a horse that is quiet and steady for the EDT without sedation, I can't see the slightest reason why the EDT should not be able to inspect the back teeth the same way the vet does.

I suspect that there are good EDTs all over the country who would snort with derision at this claim.

that is why i would like a gag, so i make up my own mind, when i have looked in there myself

 

[ycbm]

that is why i would like a gag, so i make up my own mind, when i have looked in there myself

Buy one. I have one. It cost £160 about 10 years ago.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I've always used an EDT, because my understanding is that they spend years of dedicated study on the horse's mouth, whereas a vet won't spend a fraction of that time. My EDT is fantastic and I've never had a problem. However my new horse is a total git with vets and other professionals, so has to be sedated and so this year I'll be using the vet for the first time for both horses. Having read this thread, I'll be interested to see if anything is flagged up...!

If I hadn't spoken to this particular EDT I too would have thought they spend years training!! The one that is popular round here, and until recently I didn't realise wasn't qualified, did a short course!!

 

[rabatsa]

Not all vets sedate to do teeth. Mine will only sedate if necessary, which has not been needed here.

 

[Gallop_Away]

I have always used a dentist for my horses and I've never has any issues. He's calm and patient and doesn't require them pumped full of sedation. I've nothing against it but only when it is necessary.

The dentist I use also does the local racing yards. If he's good enough to check the teeth of Scottish and Welsh grand national winners, he's good enough for my horses.

ETA to me it's the same as a farrier who specialises in a particular area. For example I would call my farrier for a hoof abscess before I call my vet. I think the same way about my dentist.

 

[expanding_horizon]

I have always used a dentist for my horses and I've never has any issues. He's calm and patient and doesn't require them pumped full of sedation. I've nothing against it but only when it is necessary.

The dentist I use also does the local racing yards. If he's good enough to check the teeth of Scottish and Welsh grand national winners, he's good enough for my horses.

My dentist is similar. They are horse people. Their client list includes Scott Brash, Tina Cook, Dane Rawlins, Peter Charles, William Funnell, Shane Breen, and Fiona Bigwood. So hopefully are good at what they do!