Who does your horses teeth? Vet or EDT.

Black_Horse_White

Black_Horse_White

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My horse is a little naughty with the dentist, nothing drastic just keeps barging and going backwards. This time he may need sedating, so was wondering as I have to have the vet out to sedate I might aswel let him do his teeth at the same time. I know the best person to have would be the dentist but wondered what others thought.
 
I always have the vet do mine- had one EDT out who did a very bad job on my baby and another that kept promising he would come out and never did. I just found it easier and cheaper to have the vet do each of them when their vaccinations are due. I do know some people won't use their vets though.
 
Always use a EDT - vets don't spend a lot of time on teeth in vet school.
EDT train specifically for teeth and see horses every day - they are much more experienced in the field.

For me it would be like going to the doctors for a filling! No thanks!
 
Usually use EDT, had gey do it once because he was coming to jab anyway. 3 months later daughter felt they needed doing again so go EDT back out & he basically slated the job the vet had done. Always have EDT now.

I mean, I wouldn't go to the doctor if I had toothache!! Seems the same thing to me :D
 
I'm in Staffordshire too and I always use James Beard, I've never known a horse dislike him and it must be because of his beautiful singing voice;):D
 
Absolutely edt! my youngster had always been done by the vet as needes sedated. but theres an amazing new gel you can get called domosedan. gave it to him abd it knocked him out :-) edt told me that the vet had not even touched his teeth. but ask your vet about the sedation as you can give it yourself
 
EDT everytime, vets never seem to do a good job and in most cases make problems worse IME they dont spend much time doing teeth in training where as the dentist knows the in and out so is more than likely to do a much better job!
 
I had mine done by Kevin Hallet..

Need a new EDT now we've moved to Devon as he doesn't come this far down..
 
EDT says the only problem my horse has is sharp edges at the back, everything else is excellent. Started to rasp them but he was misbehaving a little said she hadn't got time and left. Needless to say I won't be using her again. Hence the question reguarding the vet.
 
forestfantasy said:
Always use a EDT - vets don't spend a lot of time on teeth in vet school.
EDT train specifically for teeth and see horses every day - they are much more experienced in the field.

For me it would be like going to the doctors for a filling! No thanks!
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Agree with this, vet sedated 2 of mine, dentist did it without, even though pony ran round in circles and tanked off with mouthful of metal, he still got the job done. Dentist every time for us :)
 
Black_Horse_White said:
EDT says the only problem my horse has is sharp edges at the back, everything else is excellent. Started to rasp them but he was misbehaving a little said she hadn't got time and left. Needless to say I won't be using her again. Hence the question reguarding the vet.
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I'd try a differeny EDT in that case - she sounds like she can't be arsed! :mad:
Ask around in your area for recommendations :)
 
asommerville said:
Absolutely edt! my youngster had always been done by the vet as needes sedated. but theres an amazing new gel you can get called domosedan. gave it to him abd it knocked him out :-) edt told me that the vet had not even touched his teeth. but ask your vet about the sedation as you can give it yourself
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Domosedan is great - much more effective than Sedalin and ideal for dentistry, clipping etc and saves the extra call out for a vet.

In my experienced unless a vet specialises in dentistry they are unlikely to be as well equipped as an EDT who, if properly equipped, will have thousands of pounds worth of equipment. A well trained, properly qualified EDT will have done far more dental training than most vets. Nowadays more vets are coming round to the ideal of EDTs carrying out dental work and, in some cases, even recommend them - obviously the proviso is that they are well trained and qualified. Also a lot of vets will not sedate unless the EDT is BEVA qualified. The danger is that there are EDTs who are not properly trained/qualified and until dentistry is legally regulated these individuals will continue to give the profession a bad name. At present the onus is on horse owners to check out the qualifications for themselves before employing an EDT.
 
I used a vet once and they sedated as routine and job wasn't done very well at all. Found a great EDT can't recommend him enough to everyone James Spy, was patient even though shettie is frightened of men and was his first time ever having his teeth done. My big pony is known to do mini rears if un happy and James wasn't bothered just reassured him, let him calm down and carried on. Not enough professionals take the time and patience I received with this guy.
 
I prefer a dentist but can't for the life of me get one out just to one horse, and I tried several. Had no bother with the vet but they charge a great deal more money to do it!
 
horsemadelsie said:
I just found it easier and cheaper to have the vet do each of them when their vaccinations are due. I do know some people won't use their vets though.
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I'm the same. I thought it was just cheaper and easier that way and then I was told to have the vet for teeth was a stupid idea by a work colleague, so now I'm searching for a good dentist for the next time around. From what I gather though, my vet didn't do a terrible job at all...plus, I had a dentist the previous time and she was just rubbish with mine.

Have the vet out once, since it is cheaper and if you're not 100% satisfied with the job they do then don't have them again :)
 
I use my vet, as had bad experience with an EDT.

I have mine sedated as is less stressful for all concerned as my TB can throw a serious wobbly when she wants too!
 
Tinap555 said:
Usually use EDT, had gey do it once because he was coming to jab anyway. 3 months later daughter felt they needed doing again so go EDT back out & he basically slated the job the vet had done. Always have EDT now.
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I think that is hugely unprofessional of your EDT. How did he know what job the vet had done 3 months ago? Many dental problems cannot be corrected in one visit, and any good vet or EDT should know this. Vets are often more conservative than EDTs in the amount of reduction they do - is your EDT aware that any tooth reduction of more than 4mm runs the risk of exposing vital tissue and killing the tooth?

In this modern world where there are numerous people looking after any given horse (e.g. vet, EDT, farrier) then it is imperative that there are professional relationships between them, not only for the sake of the horse but for the sanity of all involved. If he had concerns about the vet's work then the proper course of action is to phone the vet, ask what had been found 3 months before, ask what treatment had been done, and discuss the case as a fellow professional. There is a lot of antagonism towards EDT from the veterinary profession, and until they start acting like professionals then they will not be treated as such.

Tinap555 said:
I mean, I wouldn't go to the doctor if I had toothache!! Seems the same thing to me :D
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I imagine you would go to the dentist. An EDT is not a dentist and their training is not even remotely comparable to that of a dentist. If I had toothache I would go to someone who was trained to, and legally allowed to, prescribe pain relief, antibiotics if necessary, perform extractions, perform corrective motorised dentistry, carry out endodontic procedures. For all of these then the only person who can do that is your vet.
 
Agree with Alsiola my vet is also a qualified dentist and more vets are dual qualified now. No way would I let someone who is not a vet either administer a sedative or try to treat a horse that ought to be sedated to do the work. It is too easy to cause damage.
 
Vets arn't all knowing gods and I know that I'd much rather have my dentist who has spent his life around horses and can put them at ease, than a vet who's got most of his knowledge from vet school and books and then needs to sedate my mare first. Why would I do that to her??

I soppose there is a plus point of being able to pull the mane and tail while she's still semi concious:D
 
Funnily enough had the vet out yesterday to sedate the one horse out of nine on the yard who needs sedating for the EDT. We were just talking about this and my vet's view is to use an EDT unless you have a vet that specialises in teeth although her view was why go to the effort of qualifying to be a vet to then spend all your time doing teeth.

EDT all the way but do check that they are properly qualified. There are a fair few teeth men out there who are not registered EDTs.
 
Edt every time specialist in teeth however to ensure they have had years of training must be beva qualified .
My equine vet recommends the beva dentist anyway so no problem there, it's like drs dispensing they can and they have basic training ( dispensing wise ) however it's much safer and informative to go via the pharmacist route who are specialist in the field.
The basic dentistry training for vets is just that basic !
 
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