having teeth done by electric rasp

you can get water cooled ones but this requires more cables, tubes, buckets etc and is not always practical and safe to have more wiring attached to you. However, it is v important that the head is "dunked" v often (I do it every 30 seconds or so) to prevent heat build up and to wash the mouth out every couple of minutes or so.
 
Personally I am very unhappy about overuse of electric rasps. My horse was done while under heavy sedation for big wolf tooth removal April last year and I was concerned then about how flat they were taken. I bought a proper surgical gag and used it to check him a couple of days ago and his teeth are still flatter than I would expect them to be immediately after a routine rasping. I'm going to avoid dentists who use power tools in future, it's just too easy for them to take off too much.

I come from an era when you only rasped a horses teeth when you saw them quidding food or had big bitting problems. I think we have gone way, way overboard with messing with our horses' teeth these days, with some dentists insisting on 6 month inspections.

Anyone else feel the same?
 
Just remember that a tool is only as good as the person using it, whether it be electric or manual.
 
Was speaking to my dentist on this subject the other day and he is treating a couple of horror stories over the effects of these. It seems that there are quite a few out there that are over using them. He told me on one of his patients that the rasp was used until the teeth were smooth!!! It has taken months to get the horse to the point where it can now efficiently grind its food again! I would be very cautious and would not want them used on mine!

I changed from using a vet as the vets began trying to get me to sedate just because the horse was fidgeting a bit! I was horrified as they were treating mares in foal and with foals at foot, then I noted they used one rasp to do everything so they had to go!! My dentist does all mine by hand in the paddock with a minimum of fuss and NO SEDATION.

He even spends a little time with the youngsters getting them used to being handled, wearing a gag and the feel of a rasp, he is so patient with them and they follow him around afterwards!
 
Your dentist sounds great. I have the same issue with vets rushing for the sedatives when patience would do a better job. It's why I don't use my vets even though they are EDT qualified and there is no call-out fee. They sedated my friend's 4 and 5 year old when they had hardly even twitched their head. But if they have a power tool in their mouths, there is a much greater risk of damage than a manual rasp, so they will rush for sedation more quickly I suppose.

My hunter's teeth were taken almost smooth - I was horrified. I wouldn't call them "normal" a year later. Thankfully he's young and there will be plenty left to grow yet but I'm not going to let anyone else near him with a motorised dremel in their hands in future.
 
cptrayes said:
I come from an era when you only rasped a horses teeth when you saw them quidding food or had big bitting problems. I think we have gone way, way overboard with messing with our horses' teeth these days, with some dentists insisting on 6 month inspections.

Anyone else feel the same?
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Inspections - or treatment? I have no problem with six months if six months is what they need, but equally, I am happy to go longer or shorter as advised.
 
I am an Instructor and lecturer to the equine dental Industry both here and in the USA and have been practising for the past 12 years. I have seen many advances in techniques and instrumentation in the science of equine dentistry during that time.

My training has been built on the use of hand operated equipment where their sole use has been effective and the employment of other equipment and instrumentation where necessary to the best effect. The utmost consideration in any proceedure must be that of the horse.

The use of power driven instruments has long been a contentious issue and a lot of propaganda on the use of such equipment has been circulated from both sides of the fence. Fortunately, a lot of research has been carried out into this issue and the general concensus is that the vast majority of power driven equine dental instrumentation available in the market place to day is safe for the purpose for which it was designed....provided that the operator is sufficiently trained and experienced in its use......and this is where the problem lies.....not in the equipment itself.

Here in the UK, the use of motorised instruments for carrying out of any equine dental proceedure is at the time of writing an act of veterinary surgery and as such should only be performed by a Veterinary surgeon. however, the training of Veterinary Surgeons during their initial traing on equine dentistry is very basic in content and nowhere near thorough or comprehensive enough to allow them to become experienced in the use of all the instrumentation involved. The legislation is under review and many changes are afoot to correct many inadequacies identified.....including equine dentistry.

Many equine dental practitioners (vet and non-vet) are now using power equipment as standard routine proceedure. Nothing wrong with that PROVIDED they know how to use it correctly.

ONLY those practitioners who have been thoroughly examined and tested and scrutinised in the use of such instrumentation should be using it on horses. Therefore it is upto the individual horse owners to make sure they only employ the services of such practitioners as these people will have been examined in the use of ALL dental instrumentation....both hand held and power operated. This system was devised to safeguard horses in such situations. Examined and qualified practitioners are required to constantly review current proceedures and become versed in all technical advancements, proceedures and instrumentation and make themselves familiar with recent research findings with regard to such matters.

Anyone can buy this equipment....there are no restrictions on its purchase and no current legal restrictions on its use on your horses. Those practitioners who have put themselves up for testing and examination are confident they know how to use it to the best effect for the horse. The number one consideration involved in the exam process is the health and welfare of the horse. Anyone not examined and proven to display competance in the use of such equipment shouldnt....in theory and under morale obligation....be using it. YOU the horse owner have to total control over who is out there using this equipment by demanding that the people yo employ to treat your horses is using the equipment propery.

Use ONLY practitioners who have beeen tested.....this applies to Veterinary surgeons and non vet dental practitioners. There are far too many vets doing dental proceedures on horses who have not been bothered to underetake further training AND be examined and tested when there is a proceedure in place set up by the British Equine Veterinary Association. There are far too many non Vet practitioners out there who have not become tested and examined because they are making a living treating your horses and they go unchallenged because the come on recommendation from horse owners with extremely limited knowledge of the proceedures they see being carried out on their horses. The equine Dental Industry is regulating its self for the benifit of your horses.....please support that regulation and help us to keep your horses safe and protected.
 
I completely support your efforts to make equine dentistry more professional. It has got better and better since I first had a horse's teeth done in about two minutes by an unqualified vet. The completely unqualified charlatans seem to have disappeared from around this area too.

Unfortunately the person who machined my horses teeth to two completely flat planes on each side of his face was both a fully qualified EDT and a fully qualified veterinary surgeon. If I can't be sure to trust someone qualified, then I think I'll go for an EDT with manual tools that take an awful lot more effort to do that much alteration to the mouth.

I've bought myself a surgical quality gag so that I can check their work and if they leave hooks I won't use them again.

Meanwhile my usual EDT is not responding to my email, so can anyone recommend a non-power-tool-using EDT who does Cheshire/Derbyshire/Staffordshire and won't try and bounce me into 6 month visits with horses that only ever need doing once a year like one my friend recommended me did?
 
Had my horses teeth done last week and he now has an electric rasp, well its a battery operated one, it was brilliant the horses didnt mind at all and they dont need to put so much force behind it either, go to be better for both horse and dentist :-)
 
Well, I'm an old Aberdonian cynic, and I think a lot of what we are encouraged to do with horses is entirely for self interest of the folks doing the encouraging.

I've used several qualified EDT'd in the past - all talk a great story, my horses were not comfortable after any of their visits. I used the vet, and that was much the same, and the pony was very sore after his tongue was torn. I leave well alone now, and only get the vet to look at them when I see something wrong.

One of them had a diastoma last year and I got that dealt with. But to be honest - if it ain't broke don't try to fix it, you'll only create a problem that was not there to start with.

My big guy drops food all over the place. There is nothing wrong wiht his teeth, vet looked, he just grabs a mouthfull and then makes faces in case anyone else is coming near his bucket. Horses "quid" for all sorts of reasons - not just teeth needing planed down!

What other animals do we attack their teeth with files every few months! Bizarre. Leave it alone unless it needs fixed.
 
brucea said:
What other animals do we attack their teeth with files every few months! Bizarre. Leave it alone unless it needs fixed.
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I completely see where you're coming from here however my horses get a high fibre diet (mostly hay) and this summer when the denstist checked them one older mare's back molars had grown and been worn so they were cutting her cheek.:( It was two years since her teeth had been checked with moving etc. etc. So I do think teeth should be checked at least once a year.

I've only had one EDT use a dremmel when a horse had very overgrown teeth. I worry the power tools can take too much off too quickly myself.

I have a fantastic dentist now and he totally works with the horses and actually does them loose (except for the gag parts) in their herd. It's such a huge relief to have professionals I can trust both in their expertise and in their handling of my horses.
 
You need to consider the effects of what we feed them and how, and the consequences of wear.

Ask yourself if lettuce leaves are easier to chew than raw museli and granary stick? Horses teeth didn't evolve to grind endless quantities of dried, stalky material, grains and 'cubes'. Nor did having leatherwork on your face with cheek pieces and invariably nosebands on 'throttle setting' come in to it. Many feed from mangers and nets and my dentist showed me what happens to the lower jaw when the head is raised and lowered.

If you got an EDT who actually cares about telling the owner the whys and wherefores of it so you can make informed choices about visits and the frequency, you'd perhaps feel a bit more willing to have them visit often, even if just to check?

And as for diastema - unlikely for one treatment to be the end of it... It's time vettings included proper teeth examination.
 
Ask yourself if lettuce leaves are easier to chew than raw museli and granary stick? Horses teeth didn't evolve to grind endless quantities of dried, stalky material, grains and 'cubes'. Nor did having leatherwork on your face with cheek pieces and invariably nosebands on 'throttle setting' come in to it. Many feed from mangers and nets and my dentist showed me what happens to the lower jaw when the head is raised and lowered.

If you got an EDT who actually cares about telling the owner the whys and wherefores of it so you can make informed choices about visits and the frequency, you'd perhaps feel a bit more willing to have them visit often, even if just to check?

And as for diastema - unlikely for one treatment to be the end of it... It's time vettings included proper teeth examination.
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Actually...Horses teeth DID evolve to grind endless quantities of dried, tough stalky material!

Well, my guys are predominantly on hay and rough grass - quite scraggy, with access to trees, shrubs, gorse etc., which are all grist to the mill.

We never use hay nets because they can do immense damage to the gums and front teeth.

They don't wear any leatherwork or gadgets on their faces - even the 3 year old we have just backed and brought into work over summer - they wear only a soft rope halter and mecate rein with very light contact at most. That's how I ride them.

And one treatment can deal with a diastoma - if the horse is well sedated and the VET does the job properly. Granted it may need done again in 5 years - but it's good to go for a fair while yet.

They get checked once a year - but unless there is anything WRONG they don't get rasped. We only fix what's broken.

Just like their feet are checked every day - but one of them has not been trimmed since spring, apart from a light roll, the others a little more. Most of mine are self maintaining - it's taken a bit of work to get there but they grow what they wear and wear what they grow. Nothing like having your feet given a regulation trim every 6 weeks, whether you need it or not, to hold you back from properly growing quality horn!

We don't worm, we worm count, and worm when necessary. We never have to worm. Better for the horse and better for the environment.

There's a huge industry out there just pushing on you all the time to do things to your hoss. So often the hoss is not the real beneficiary. ;) Look around at your average feed shop and tack shop - how much of that does the horse REALLY need - and how much of that do YOU need?

I used to buy into all the "do this every 6 weeks, do this every 6 months..." - not any more. Yep - an old cynic. :)
 
I have a great EDT she spends time explaining what and why she is doing something.

Yes she does use battery powered tools but only as she see it necessary.


She is a kind gentle person. Will only suggest if a horse needs treatment every 6 months. I have one mare that does need doing every 6 months but she had bad dental treatment before buying her.

I also clean her teeth and wash her mouth out daily.
 
Some years ago at the Equine Forum there was a presentation on the damage likely to be done by high speed rasps raising the tempreture. There was little research on equine teeth but ample research on human teeth. Apply similar criteria to equine teeth and there were some high speed rasps where extra care should be taken. My dentist also has vacumn extration for the dentine.
 
Ok heres is where I stand on this (prob more of a respnose to CPtrayes)

Saying that horses dont need to be rasped every 6 months is quite a flippant comment to make especially if you are not working in the industry yourself; forgive me, this isnt intended to sound rude so apolgies if it reads so.

You have to remember that every horse is an individual and needs to be treated as such. I treat horses from 3 year old cobs to high level competition horses to racehorses that need to be treated every 6 months for various reasons, all of which are genuine, likewise I have other horses that cope perfectly well being left for 15 months due to their specific routine. First time I treat a horse, I always ask to see them 6 months later as it is only on the second visit that I can work out whether the horse can go 6-12 or even 15 months and then work out whether I have taken off sufficient tooth. You can always take more off but you cant put it back and every EDT/vet varies in the amount of tooth they remove.

99% of my clients are perfectly happy with this, they pay to to come and assess and treat their horse as an individual and that is what I do. I certainly do not insist on 6 month treatment "for the hell of it" or to get more money off my clients.

Re ponydentists post - I agree completely
 
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Also, a lot of you have mentioned that you are not happy with the way qualified EDTs have treated your horse. If you are not happy then you are perfectly within your rights to contact BAEDT or WWAED (depending on which association the EDT is affliliated to) and let them know why you arent happy. Noone can do anything about it unless you make the effort to express your concerns.....thats what they are there for!
 
Best advice is only have done what you are comfortable with. I had a qualified EDT want to do major surgery to my then 17 year old horse. I figured if he'd got to 17 and had no problems eating (quite the opposite in fact!) then I didn't see the point of major dental work.

Got lots of flack for not doing as I was told but stuck to my guns and had a second opinion. Second opinion agreed that teeth alignment wasn't great but hey he was 17 and looked fine!

Now have an annual check and touch up - horse is now 23 and I have been warned he will now start to have a few problems, but seeing as he has other health issues, don't think its the teeth that will end his life!

As with all things if you are not comfortable don't do it.
 
I am not so sure now as I am having the Vet tomorrow to my boy who suspects that he has been injured in some way from the use of an electric rasp.

anyone else had a problem with injury?
 
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