Horse dentists v Vets????

Seahorse

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Axels teeth were done in february by the vet. I had an EDT out today and he was amazed at the sharp edges on Axeys teeth. He said they were way too sharp bearing in mind they were done such a short time ago, also the easy bits to get to were ok, but the more difficult bits hadn't been touched
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It took him ages, and when I mentioned Axey was sensitive in his mouth and wouldn't take a contact, he wasn't surprised. Poor pony!
I rode him afterwards and he was fab
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What made me laugh was that the vet charged about twice as much as the dentist too.
 
i suppose the dentist specialises in teeth whereas i imagine the vet will have covered teeth but not necessarily in as much depth/specialisation
 
Vets only do a few days training on equine dentistry whereas equine dental techs are trained full time in it. I always use the latter!
 
Same thing happened to me, vet kept saying they were fine - finally got an EDT and he said they were really sharp
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. Not sure if that was just a sales tactic though lol
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i have to use both!!!....vet to sedate and dentist to do the teeth!!!!

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Horse on my yard has to be sedated to be clipped, have his teeth done and his sheath cleaned. He must wonder what he got up to the previous night when he wakes up with a hangover, a haircut, rasped teeth and a sore cock!
 
Dentist definately. I used to have the vet do usual rasps and remember once that one of my horses ended up bleeding from his gum and a bit of his tongue!! Awful!

Dentists have all the right equipment and just do a far better job. Just like I prefer to get the farrier out for any hoof problems rather than the vet!
 
You've really made me think now... I have an EDT do one lad and he is fine, but the other one is scared by the mouth opener contraption so have to get vet to do it as he sedates him, I bet after the above comments above that I should get vet out to sedate and EDT to do teeth, vet has been saying that he has a realy small mouth and can't get to the back easily. Thanks for post.
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PMSL!!!
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i thought bracken had it bad gettin sedated just for dentist! she will let me clip her no probs! and as shes a mare no sheath cleanin for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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If you have/find a good vet, they can be just as good as an equine dentist, but many vets aren't so good/experienced with teeth. As long as the teeth are done well, I don't mind if it's done by an EDT or vet, but it sounds like your horse's teeth weren't done well by your vet.
 
I have a really good vet who rather helpfully has done additional qualifications in dentistry, so he does a really good and thorough job and can sedate too if needs be.
 
We always use the equine dentist as vets don't seem to be very skilled in this area. Doesn't mean that all vets are like this though, just the ones that we have used!
 
[ QUOTE ]
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i have to use both!!!....vet to sedate and dentist to do the teeth!!!!

[/ QUOTE ]
Horse on my yard has to be sedated to be clipped, have his teeth done and his sheath cleaned. He must wonder what he got up to the previous night when he wakes up with a hangover, a haircut, rasped teeth and a sore cock!

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hehe funny!
 
OUr vet does ours, she is very good though. Allthough saying that will not let one of the vets from the same practise do it always insist on the same vet!
 
Unless the vet concerned specialised in equine dentistry I would always use a trained EDT. Some of the good ones can float a horse's teeth without using sedation even when the vet usually has to sedate them to do their teeth in my experience.
 
Vets spend 7 years at university and in all that time they only spend about 6 hours on horses teeth. I spent longer than that on my first day of training. So you can make your own mind up on who should do your horses teeth.
 
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