Rearing with dentist...

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Charla

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My gelding had the dentist for the first time in his life on Saturday. He's a sensitive horse. When the dentist put the metal gag thing on him, he seemed to panic a bit. He was making odd noises and then when the dentist started filing he was shooting round the stable and I was unable to get him to stand still. He then started rearing and rear plunging as he decided he definitely did not like this experience. The dentist seemed to get a little frustrated, you could hear it in his voice.

Other people at my yard only have the vet out to do their horses teeth as they say they need sedating due to them behaving as my gelding did. I'm wondering for the benefit of my horse's teeth being done properly, that I should consider getting the vet out next time so he can be given a mild sedation and also reduce the stress of the experience?
The dentist seemed to only actually file for about 2 minutes successfully. I'm unsure if he'd actually finished when he stopped or had just given up.

What do others do with horses that are bad when having their teeth done?
 
Hi, I have the vet sedate one of my horses as he is scared of the dentist,( so am I!) gets expensive. Mine doesnt mind it until the gag goes in then hes up in the air.
Dont know if it would be cheaper for the vet to sedate and do the teeth.
 
I wouldnt have a vet do my horses teeth. A dentist trains for several years and a vet has a dentist course of a few weeks.

I will PM you a really good dentist not sure if he will come out to Surry but he may know of a good dentist your way. He has done some parelli and work with wild mustangs. OK I hate parelli but this guy has taken aspects from it to improve his work.

Or you could just use sedalin which you can buy from the vets. If it helps my 18yr still rears with the dentist and didnt do for 5 years with the dentist above.
 
We use an 'unqualified' dentist who is a very old jockey who has been doing teeth for years - I don't believe he has any formal qualifications :)

But our horses rarely misbehave for him, many times he will not use a gag - he'll just hold their tongue out to one side and file the opposite side - but even when he does use the gag he doens't panic.

A few years ago I had another guy to do them, and my horses reaction was extreme to say the least :o My horse was terrified of the guy, the guy didn't help my being nervous/un horsemen like from the offset. I had to resort to getting the vet out to sedate.

Who recommnended the dentist, or have you had him before? If its the first time you've used him - I'd say try another one next time :)
 
Toffee44 said:
I wouldnt have a vet do my horses teeth. A dentist trains for several years and a vet has a dentist course of a few weeks.

I will PM you a really good dentist not sure if he will come out to Surry but he may know of a good dentist your way. He has done some parelli and work with wild mustangs. OK I hate parelli but this guy has taken aspects from it to improve his work.

Or you could just use sedalin which you can buy from the vets. If it helps my 18yr still rears with the dentist and didnt do for 5 years with the dentist above.
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Oh yes please could you PM me that dentists details? I would hugely appreciate it! I think my boy would be ok with time and a gentle approach. He just needs to realise it's really not that bad? Even though that gag looks scary to me!! :p
 
Stencilface said:
We use an 'unqualified' dentist who is a very old jockey who has been doing teeth for years - I don't believe he has any formal qualifications :)

But our horses rarely misbehave for him, many times he will not use a gag - he'll just hold their tongue out to one side and file the opposite side - but even when he does use the gag he doens't panic.

A few years ago I had another guy to do them, and my horses reaction was extreme to say the least :o My horse was terrified of the guy, the guy didn't help my being nervous/un horsemen like from the offset. I had to resort to getting the vet out to sedate.

Who recommnended the dentist, or have you had him before? If its the first time you've used him - I'd say try another one next time :)
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It was the first time I'd ever used this dentist! A friend recommended him but I must say her horses are rather different to mine personality wise. They're all a lot older and very laid back, chilled out horses. My boy is a fire cracker :rolleyes:
 
Definitely sedate. It's just not worth making it a bad experience when there is the option to sedate.

Snip is normally fine with things like that but every now and then he'll chuckin a **** fit and then once he's gone you've lost him, so I have him sedated so it never comes to that.
 
I would change your dentist! Ours does not use a gag - i can't stand the things. I think they have their place if a horse needs serious dental work that it requires sedation for but general visits they should not be required. The ones that just slot in the side of the mouth and can be taken out quickly are ok but not those ones that hold the jaw open and strap round the head I think are horrid.

We have a very old school (ex stable lad) guy come do our horses teeth and we never have any problems, he is so calm with them and even the sensitive horses we've had just seem very relaxes in his presence. Many years ago we had another dentist (highly recommended, professional guy) come see my sister's horse as he had a bit of a rearing problem and it made us wonder if maybe our regular dentist wasn't that fab.

Anyway, I have never seen such a reaction from a horse, the moment the 'fantastic' EDT arrived this horse looked terrified and he struggled to do him at all and appeared very nervous around the horse. He said he needed sedating and we ended up doing that. I would never let that man touch a horses mouth again, he is a real case of all the gear, no idea! He is just not natural around horses and they sense his nervousness.

He has all the qualifications but just not the natural ability with horses. You definitely need to have a look around, find one you feel happy with. I don't believe a horse should need sedating for normal dental work and i think with confident handling you can avoid the severe reaction your horse had.
 
I used to have an equine dentist out to have a look at my horse. He hates the dentist he would back himself in the corner and leap at him, rear, kick, strike out with his fronts. The dentist was extremely good and was very patient, I wouldnt know many dentists to put up with that. This year I decided to get the vet out, I had just moved him to a new yard so he was a little stressy as it was so thought I would keep things easy and have him sedated. My vet found a fractured tooth, which she thinks has been like it for a while, something that was missed the year before and possibly the year before that. He has now been referred to have the whole tooth out to try and prevent the bone getting infected. There is now an issue with my insurance company over the dental reports and there is a very high chance he will not be covered on the insurance. I definately recommend a vet and sedation, its safer and nothing will be missed
 
I had to have the equine vet do my horses teeth - put it this way- we had to twitch him in order to sedate him.....

I usually use an EDT but this is a new horse- very highly strung- and I knew he wouldn't tolerate the EDT. And bear in mind- if they have the gag on and they are throwing their head around its bloody dangerous.

So...EDT for the 'normal' two and vet/sedation for the other.

Safety first I'm afraid.
 
My horse has to be sedated for dental work, I have the vet out to sedate him and a dentist to do his teeth.

I personally wouldn't trust someone who said they never used a gag. G had terrible teeth when I first got him as he'd been seen by someone who didn't use a gag and so they'd never got right to the back of his mouth. The back teeth were shocking and were causing him real problems. I hate to think how long he'd been in pain for when his previous owners clearly thought they were getting him regularly seen to.
 
I'd try one more time perhaps with another dentist - if you thought the dentist was not good, otherwise I wouldn't hesitate to get him sedated.

My 7yr old put me in hospital rearing an plungeing with the dentist this year - am now awaiting a shoulder op. The dentist came back when they had their annual jabs, and we had him sedated at the same time. His teeth were done without any stress or danger - easy resort!
 
I always organise for my EDT to come at the same time as my vet comes to do the vaccinations so that she can sedate Perzka for him.Saves an extra call-out and my vet is always interested in the explanations of what he is doing, so she gets something out of the visit too!
 
wellsat said:
My horse has to be sedated for dental work, I have the vet out to sedate him and a dentist to do his teeth.

I personally wouldn't trust someone who said they never used a gag. G had terrible teeth when I first got him as he'd been seen by someone who didn't use a gag and so they'd never got right to the back of his mouth. The back teeth were shocking and were causing him real problems. I hate to think how long he'd been in pain for when his previous owners clearly thought they were getting him regularly seen to.
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I agree with this. You need the gag to be able to see and safely feel the teeth. If you can use an equine vet get them to sedate and do the teeth or get an EDT and a vet to cary out the sedation.
 
For the safety of all involved I get my boy sedated before the dentist comes out. He too use to panic and rear and the dentist told me of an extremly unpleasant accident where a horse reared and the rasp went straight through his throat killing him instantly and leaving a terrible bloodbath.

after that I just took the easy but more expensive option of sedation :/
 
Well we've used the same non-gag using dentist for years, and have never had problems with any of their teeth - no bitting or eating problems, or weight problems (aside from overweight that is :eek: ).

Thats on perhaps over 20 horses minimum over the years, a donkey and one horse who happily made it to 36 with his gnashers. Try another dentist :)
 
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