Dentists

[Sparklet]

My daughters horse has always been regularly seen by the horse dentist. She has been progressively more difficult to do so on his last visit I had a vet sedate her and he was able to rasp all her teeth very thoroughly.

12 months later I tried to co-ordinate vet/dentist visit so she could be sedated again. I found it was virtually impossible because vets see cases according to urgency so could not promise to be with me for a certain time if a colic came up....fair enough.

The suggestion was get the vet to do the teeth - as I needed my horse vaccinating I arranged for all to be done on that day. The vets I use is a referral vet so are equine specialists.

Yesterday vet came, sedated and examined my daughters pony. He was horrified to discover that the last two teeth at each side of her bottom jaw were a centimetre higher than all the others. Even worse the corresponding top teeth were a centimetre lower and virtually at gum level.

The action of her jaw was severely restricted because her teeth were getting jammed and she would be biting into her gum when eating. She does have head twitching tendancies and he felt that her teeth have probably always been the cause.

He got me to feel her teeth and there was no doubt about what he was saying. Obviously I questioned him about why her teeth were this way, was it conformation etc and he said it was poor dentistry and would have taken 3 to 4 years to get into such a bad condition.

He has to return later this week with a power tool to put them right as the difference it too difficult to do and because it is her back teeth he would severely bruise her mouth to try to do it with rasps because he cannot rasp beyond the teeth.

I suppose there is a message for those that dont have their horses teeth seen.....it is so important. But how worrying to think that I have always done the right thing but caused my poor pony all this discomfort and pain. It will be vet for me every time now.

 

[AmyMay]

I always use the vet I'm afraid. I do know that there are some good dentists out there. But would trust my vet 110% to do a better job I'm afraid.

 

[Tempi]

well my dentist always gets me to put my hand in Blossys mouth and tells me what im feeling for (after hes felt in there) so i can feel whats wrong, he then rasps them or whatever and i put my hand back in so i can feel the difference.

 

[Sparklet]

Thats probably the best way - at least you can check. My vet let me have a feel

...oops..of her teeth yesterday so I could see how bad things were. Quite nerve wracking putting your hand in there though with her teeth chomping away. Glad those gag things are strong.

Think I am definitely a vet convert from now. I suppose they can always check the mouth for other medical, non dental conditions too so you have a full health check.

 

[ihatework]

Ditto, I now get the vet to do my lot at the same time as their annual jabs.

 

[ExRacers]

Yes I agree with the above, I always use my vet to get their teeth done. A couple of years ago my 22yr old was used by the vet hospital for a students exam & got the full power tool treatment etc etc free of charge!! In fact they said he now has the mouth of a 10 yr old!!

Mind you I don't think he was overly impressed by it all!!! But at least I know his teeth are 100%.

 

[Twiglet]

I'm a vet convert now too - after having to call them out in an emergency after the dentist had 'cemented' a fractured tooth back together, causing the whole tooth to actually weaken and split, and potentially sealing in infection. Vet was fuming to put it mildly. Horse will be done by vets twice a year from now on, wouldn't want to risk it otherwise.

 

[Ludi-doodi]

I have to have Ludo sedated to have his teeth done (he just won't tolerate the gag) so I guess I might be lucky as my dentist is a qualified vet who only does dentistry now! She told me that in the 5 years she was at vet school they did only 1½ hours on horse dentistry!!! She also lets me have a good rummage around his mouth too while he's spark out.

 

[Dougie]

sorry but its outrageous your blaming the denitst! you said that the last time you had to get horse sedated and vet rasped teeth...um shouldnt vet have picked up on it??????

 

[VictoriaEDT]

Ludi_Doodi I am guessing your dentist is Sally Kingsley? I did some work with her for a while!

I can understand how annoyed you are but you have to see it from an EDTs point of view. A majority of good EDTs who are insured have excellent training either in the states or the UK costing thousands and thousands of £s to be the best they can be in both a theoretical and practical manner.

Whilst vets are absolutely fantastic they all have specific areas of interest (lameness, colic, respiratory etc). It is absolutely right that vets get about 1.5 hours of training on rasping at vets school (I was told from Sally). In total I have had hundreds of hours and would no way consider myself to know "everything"!

I guess what I am trying to say is that there are some fantastic vets out there specialising in dentistry and equally there are some fantastic dentists too.

When it comes to sedating, I work in conjunction with the vets and always ask their opinion on work before and after I have done it - equally I spend a lot of time educating my clients and ask them to be involved also.

 

[Sparklet]

Perhaps I didnt write that bit very clearly - 12 months ago I had the vet sedate my daughters pony so that the dentist could work on her. The dentist rasped her teeth and told me he had done a thorough job.

This time round I found it really difficult to coordinate vet and dentist so asked the vet to sedate and rasp. It was the vet who blamed the dentist, not me. I'm not an expert.

 

[Sparklet]

Oh I so wish you worked further up North.

 

[Dougie]

sorry i mis-read

*crawls back under rock lol

 

[annie02]

Victoria I think you have a great point. There are good and bad of everything. However I use my vet for teeth also, mostly because at the same time I get a full check up done at the same time and I trust my vet fully. I havent found a dentist that I trust and my horses need to be sedated to have them done so I need a vet either way. Dont get me wrong I think vets cant do eveything and there are get alternatives out there, like yourself, and I love my massage therapist!

 

[_jetset_]

Which dentist do you use?

 

[tiggersdad]

There is a list of Veterinary Surgeons on the British Equine Veterinary Association web site who have passed the equine dentistry examination. I think there are over 12000? vets in the country but only a handfull have passed the examination.
Surely anyone treating horse teeth would pass the exam easily? http://www.beva.org.uk/index.php?topic=dac22a263de6e0b1aca4ca41e1b090e7
Perhaps a vet can tell us why there are so few?

 

[Sparklet]

Come out from under that rock you coward

. Seriously, I re-read my initial post and it wasnt very clear so would be easy to mis-read.

I have just responsed to a pm from a friend and in replying I made a sudden connection. My little pony has had several bouts of choke this year, one bout needed veterinary treatment, the others cleared on their own. She does cough sometimes (in a food stuck - rather than dusty type way). Whats the betting that her choke will clear up when her teeth are sorted later today?

 

[filly190]

I used an equestrian dentist and she was very truthful with me, that unless my difficult horses were sedated by a vet she could not do all the necessary work. She works closely with my vet and advised me to use my vet in the future.

I was very grateful for her honesty and not cutting corners. Obviously this advice cost her three of my horses, but I would now recommend her to people that dont need sedation.

When the vet came, the horse dentist's work had kept my horses teeth in excellent condition and because of her honesty with me and liaising with the vet, she is now picking up business from all over the place.

So the moral of this story is, that her honesty and good care have given her a fantastic relationship with the vet and the vets pass her work all the time, knowing she is responsible and trustworthy.

It has'nt cost the dentist lost business, it has it fact gained her buiness and a good name.

In the horse world it is'nt always easy to find good people and I am so grateful to both of them.

 

[miamibear]

I had my old horse done by vet when i realised my trusted dentist had ruined his mouth!! The vet however just rasped off the hooks and sharp edges and did no specific dental work.

Like it has been said vets in general dont do enough dentistry work to treat severe cases that need sedation. Unless they have qualified as a dentist too. They are good at other things - im not putting vets down at all!

Or thinking about it why would we have dentists - they are specialists.

With all equine professions though its very difficult to find one who you truly trust and is worth their weight in gold. The training is of different standards though and you do have to be careful.

My EDT also told me there are no requirements to attend courses or workshops to continue your development after qualifying which i think is wrong.

Im lucky i have one - he isnt a vet he is an EDT and was a human dentist before he trained in equines. He holds clinics at vet practices, that tells me something too!!

I would be only too happy to reccomend him to anyone BUT as it has been said before if your horse is not too happy with treatment and puts its head up, its unlikely they will be able to treat it because the rasps dont hit the teeth at the right angle hence back teeth being left and too much being taken off the fronts.

I wish there was some sort of monitoring system whereby unsuitable dentists could be struck off. They do so much damage! And all the time we are paying them and putting our trust in them that they are doing a good thorough job!

 

[VictoriaEDT]

Thanks Sparklet, I do occasionally go up north but for big yards for a few days at a time.

I can completely sympathise with you guys as I was once a novice when it came to dentistry and wish I knew more about EDTs and their work before I had an unqualified guy come and sort my horse. BEVA and the British Association of Equine Dental Technicians are really trying to regulate dentistry and quite right too as there are so many unqualified and more importantly un insured dentists out there and it is so so difficult for you guys to immediatly know who is ok and who isnt. Generally if your EDT is insured then you can safely assume they are trained (as they are unable to get insurance without proper training). Dont be afraid to ask your new dentist for their insurance certificate!

For anyone having a new dentist look at my website www.equinedental.co.uk and there is information on what should be done during an examination with explanations.