Horse dental check - is my vet a bit brutal or is this normal?!

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RIDMagic

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I had the vet out today for my new horse's vaccinations and general health check, including dental check. So once the gag was on, which my horse was relatively calm about, the vet proceeded to get hold of her tongue, in what seemed to be a tight grip, and hold it outside of her mouth to one side. Horse obviously didn't like it, and was lifting her head and generally just evading. She is generally very quiet and calm, especially considering she is only 4 years old. The vet had hold of her tongue like this for maybe 20 seconds or so. It was distressing to watch and I was very nearly at the point of telling the vet to let go! However, I have never seen a horse have it's teeth checked before... is this just the way it's done? Is it normal to get hold of the tongue like this and pull it outside the horse's mouth? I know the vet needs to be able to see all the teeth but it just seemed a bit rough!
 
Never seen anyone do this either. Mine had his teeth done by an EDT a week ago, and he was a bit pathetic about it (that's tbs haha) but there was no tongue pulling involved!!
 
Yes, it is normal, and no not necessarily rough or hurting the horse. Your horse was probably just surprised at a new sensation and it is just something, like the farrier, worming, etc., that horses have to get used to.
 
To be honest my horse handled it very well considering, she didn't freak out or put up a big protest, but I just found it a bit distressing to watch somebody get hold of my horse's tongue in a full fist grip and pull it around like that! I was also surprised that the injection was not done 'lengthways', like we would have one, but straight into the neck, all the way in! Again, she coped with it all very well but it did give her a fair shock, the poor thing, and it all just seemed a bit unnecessary... maybe I need to toughen up a bit!

It's interesting that already one person is saying the tongue thing is normal, and one person is saying they've never seen that done before. Maybe it depends who you go to? Pigeon, did your horse need sedating before the EDT could do the work?
 
They need to move the tongue to the side otherwise it would be in the way and would be far more uncomfortable for the horse if the tongue was caught on the dentistry tools, they should'nt be rough about it though.
 
It's normal I check my horses teeth and mouths regularily I just get hold of the tongue pull it to one side have a look switch to tongue to other side and check the bit I have not looked at.
I accustom my horses to this , all accept it as part of life I am not sure how you would check in their mouths unless you had a dental gag to use.
 
Yes, its quite normal. I've had quite a few EDT's and the odd vet do mine and it's to stop the tongue getting in the way. Whether or not the vet was a bit rough is dependant on how you felt.

Maybe you could watch next time someone else has their horses teeth done. Then it would give you a better idea of whether your vet was too rough or not.
 
RIDMagic said:
I was also surprised that the injection was not done 'lengthways', like we would have one, but straight into the neck, all the way in!
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'Straight into' suggests an intramuscular injection in contrast to a 'lengthways' intravenous one. Some low volume sedatives can be given IM, but intravenous is more usual I think.
 
RIDMagic said:
Well my horse was wearing a gag at the time, so I'm not sure why the vet felt the need to pull her tongue out to the side. Incidentally I've just been reading another H&H post from 2009 about how you can damage the delicate bones at the back of the horse's mouth by pulling the tongue to one side:

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/foru...ngue-the-hyoid-bones-and-doing-major-damage-(

Interesting...
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The vet would be moving the tongue out of way so they could see or keeping it out of the way of the equipment .
 
As for tongue manipulation, it's hard to tell without seeing it being done. I have been told that the tongue muscle can be damaged with too forceful pulling, but simply holding tight and deflecting it does not cause physical harm and is normal (despite what the horse may think of it).
 
Hmm, that's the problem having never seen it before, I've nothing to compare it to. It would be best to watch someone else and decide if my vet was too rough.

Just to clarify, the injection I'm talking about was a tetanus & flu vaccination, not a sedative for the dental check. And she didn't actually have any work done on her teeth, it was just a check. Fburton, is intravenous the usual method for flue & tet vaccs?
 
I have just had my horses teeth done last week by a registered EDT and not once did he pull my horses tongue out, he FELT his teeth he did not have to look. I had a vet to see this horses teeth when I first got him and she had to sedate him, he is quite a volatile TB, for the last 3 years I have had a dentist and he is quiet and relaxed. I would not get a vet to shoe my horse any more than get a vet to do my horses teeth.
 
justabob said:
I have just had my horses teeth done last week by a registered EDT and not once did he pull my horses tongue out, he FELT his teeth he did not have to look. I had a vet to see this horses teeth when I first got him and she had to sedate him, he is quite a volatile TB, for the last 3 years I have had a dentist and he is quiet and relaxed. I would not get a vet to shoe my horse any more than get a vet to do my horses teeth.
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And having had two bad experiances with EDTs the second of which left the horse at the vet uni and maimed for life I will never ever let anyone except a vet who has done the dentistry training near my horses .
 
Agreed, Justabob - techniques differ widely. Some feel, some like to look. Some use gags, other don't. Some use hand tools, others power tools. Some routinely sedate, others only if the horse is fractious. Some work solo, others prefer having an assistant. Some are conservative about rasping, others more liberal/"thorough".

ETA: My personal preference? Look and feel. Use gag - always. Sedate - always (unless history of previous abreaction). If using power tool, err on the conservative side - it's too easy to take off too much with power tools. And having access to power tools shouldn't mean not using specific hand tools when they may be more suitable. Also, I think it's useful to have someone else experienced, e.g. veterinary nurse, hold the horse.
 
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Goldenstar said:
And having had two bad experiances with EDTs the second of which left the horse at the vet uni and maimed for life I will never ever let anyone except a vet who has done the dentistry training near my horses .
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I agree with this 100 per cent. I have had an EDT to one of my horses twice within a year. Still the horse was not settled in her mouth. I then got my vet to do the teeth. He was shocked at how sharp her teeth were and could not believe that she had had them done in several years if ever. When he showed me with the gag in, it was difficult not to cut your hand on the sharp edges further back in her mouth.Within two weeks of the vet's visit she was happy in her mouth, her appetite improved considerably and all round happy horse.

I will never have an EDT again.
 
Goldenstar said:
And having had two bad experiances with EDTs the second of which left the horse at the vet uni and maimed for life I will never ever let anyone except a vet who has done the dentistry training near my horses .
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I must be very lucky to have my EDT, there are bound to be good ones and equally bad ones as in every profession. Sorry that you had two bad ones.
 
RIDMagic said:
It's interesting that already one person is saying the tongue thing is normal, and one person is saying they've never seen that done before. Maybe it depends who you go to? Pigeon, did your horse need sedating before the EDT could do the work?
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No, didn't need sedating! But then didn't need that much done. EDT sort of pushed the tongue out the way when doing the back teeth, but didn't hold it. Though mine has an itty bitty tongue which doesn't really get in the way, could this be why?
 
It was the opposite where I used to live. Brilliant EDT's , while the vets were less competent. I would never allow a vet to sedate mine or use power tools by default.

Now having moved, I can't even get an EDT to return a call, so used the vet. He was experienced but not a specialist, so did a basic maintenance rasp. Fortunately mine will stand loose on the yard while being done.
 
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