Equine Dentistry

[be positive]

As a matter of interest, are any of the EDTs who have apparently damaged a horse's mouth fully qualified? There's a recent list here.

http://www.baedt.com/?c=5432

Plus the student members

http://www.baedt.com/?c=20060

I wonder if some dentists are calling themselves EDTs when they do not have the proper accreditation. If anyone has had a bad experience with a BAEDT registered dentist, I hope that the professional body responded accordingly to any legitimate complaint?

One of the dentists is on the list, the other is very well known and runs clinics alongside a vet, he also trains dentists but is not on the list!! there is also another association which is trying to become more established, some interesting reading on the website regarding the recent meeting to look into infrastructure, qualifications and training.

http://wwaed.org.uk/

 

[muckypony]

I only ever use an EDT. The only vets I have come across that have 'done' teeth, are useless.

I use one EDT, he is very well-known in the area and I trust him over anyone else with their teeth. He doesn't use power tools, and he will never tell me that my horses need something when they don't. He's great.

As an example.. I called him the other day to book my boy in for March as I have a day off work and wanted to get booked in early. He told me no as it's too soon for him to be done and he doesn't need it - how many vets would turn money down!?

I also have two Shetlands who are rising 4 now. When they were 9 months, one of them kept rubbing the hair away from his cheeks. I called the vet and they did skin scrapes etc, nothing was found so the vet told me that he probably had something wrong with his teeth so he needed to come out and 'rasp a few bits down'. Now I've never had babies before, but that didn't sound right. I called my EDT and he said absolutely do not let the vet touch them with that attitude, at 9 months he doesn't have enough to rasp anyway! He came to check them for me to make sure all was ok (at no charge) and he always has a peek at them when he is seeing my other boy.

I have called him countless times when I've been worried (bleeding teeth once caps had come off, odd lumps etc) and he is always so helpful and will never take advantage or me being worried!

 

[Casey76]

I've only ever used a vet, as dentists are almost unheard of over here.

However which ever vet I've used (and there has been 3 over the past 10 years), have automatically sedated and used a power rasp.

My youngster is very twitchy about his mouth, and needs sedating to get the dental gag anywhere near him - unfortunately this was precipitated by a vet the very first time he had his teeth looked at... the same vet then told me my 2yr old wouldn't need seeing again for 2 years.

 

[laura_nash]

I always used to just use the yard's EDT as I was under a lot of peer pressure to do this (and in those days I actually cared about that stuff), but I do worry that he did damage to my horses mouth. At one point he told me after doing his teeth that he had done a "bit seat" which I hadn't asked him to do and was pretty angry about! Later the horse got a root infection and then the tooth broke off and I have always wondered if there was a link.

I now have a wonderful EDT who I book when he is in the area as he lives on the other side of the country, he started off every 6 months so he could judge how quickly things were changing but not necessarily to actually treat (and doesn't charge the full amount for a quick look). Because of the aforementioned broken tooth my boy does need regular work as the opposite tooth gets too long. The new EDT always explains everything he is doing and encourages me to stick my hand in and have a feel myself before and after. He was also amazing with the rescue pony, who I was expecting to have issues with, had him gagged and treated without any stress at all.

 

[EventingMum]

Interesting.

I have used both.

Vet, no-nonsense, no sedation. Hand rasp. No complaints to be made.

EDT, sedated whether you wanted or not. Power tools. Knew her craft but reversely I wouldn't say I felt the job was done any better; it only took far longer and was more expensive than the vet would be. For instance I wasn't all too happy with my boy being drugged for what would have been a five minute job without.

On balance I prefer the vet. But it might all depend on the person you use.

It's not legal for an EDT who isn't a vet to sedate in the UK.

In order to properly assess a horses molars a gag needs to be used. Horses are fairly stoic and often don't show that there is an issue until it is fairly severe, earlier intervention can't often make things a lot more comfortable for the horse.

With regards to caries, rather like humans horses didn't naturally have high sugar diets but modern feeds often contain molasses and grazing and haylage contain sugars resulting in tooth decay.

Beware of cheap gags sold on ebay etc, often they are poorly manufactured and can fail and close without warning, not funny if you have a hand in the horses mouth at the time.

 

[cundlegreen]

Maybe we as owners should do away with 'due to be done' and replace it with 'if needed' ?

As an owner of several horses, I bought an inexpensive haussman's gag online. Best thing I ever did. I can have a good look myself (and feel) then go to my vets when I feel there is a problem. I won't start a young horse until I know it's teeth are ok, as I don't want any misbehaviour whilst breaking due to sharp teeth. I've had yearlings with razor sharp points which was a surprise to me at the time. One of my horses was out on loan and nearly had her teeth ruined by a EDT, so its always my vets for me. I did use another practice once, as the horse was away being schooled. What a disaster! I had found a hook on the lower furthest back molar, which he charged me to remove. 4 weeks later, the mare was very unhappy jumping, and with a 1* event coming up, I checked in her mouth only to find that the hook was still there, despite a £70 bill! Very unhappy with that!

 

[FFAQ]

Interesting topic! My EDT had a similar rant when he came out to do my lot recently. He uses power tools, but said he comes across a lot of over rasped teeth (not ones he's done obviously). I guess it's the same in any of the equine professions - you get 'good' and 'bad' farriers, EP's trimmers, dentists, vets, trainers, the list goes on!

 

[cobgoblin]

I use my vet. I let him open their mouth and hold the tongue out of the way, then I check their teeth, he then has a look and checks if he agrees with me. We both find this amusing.
My horses have never required any rasping. Even our 34yr old that we lost last year never required rasping, and perhaps because of that he still had a full set of teeth and could still eat forage until the day he died.
Every time an EDT uses a power tool and removes any excess at all, the lifetime of that tooth is reduced. You can make teeth shorter but you certainly can't make them any longer.
I would never allow a power tool to be used. Anyone that produced one would be off my yard so fast their feet wouldn't touch the ground.

 

[samlf]

I use an EDT (who is BAEDT/BEVA registered and is a trainer too) and I am pleased with his work. He uses power tools, as one of mine has a dominant side apparently, and if not rasped the other side tends towards shear mouth. She hadn't had her teeth done before I bought her, and was in poor condition, now is a good doer. Incidentally, I'd used a vet to check teeth just after I got her and he didn't notice this problem, and also said she had another condition which she didn't have. She does have to be sedated, although it is now a much quicker job as is done 6 monthly to keep on top of it. My other one is a youngster and has a small amount done every 6 months, although both will shortly be going a year between visits.

When I used the vet in the past to sedate for dentist, the dentist was essentially training and educating her, and she was asking questions about dentistry that seemed rather basic.

I think it is not EDT vs vet but who is good in your area, whom you trust with your horse(s). There are plenty of unregistered dentists in my area and I am sceptical about their knowledge and experience from stories I have heard about how wonderful they are.

I am slightly concerned that my horses teeth are being 'rasped away' from comments on this thread, but I guess the results show for themselves, and in the past I have loaned horses who had not had their teeth done in years with ulcerated tongues so I am going to stick with what my EDT advises, although I am more than happy to pay for him to say nothing needs doing.