Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Marlene, you are so correct that a good dentist will do more than just the molars.

I have a new horse that was looked at by a vet prior to me getting him. His teeth were deemed good and just a touch up was done on him. 

I had my vet do blood work and look at his teeth at the same time...not telling him they had just been done a month prior. My vet said the teeth looked "okay", but was they getting close. He figured the horse had probably been done in the last 8-10 months. I scheduled a work up on him and once in the mouth, my vet could see there was even more to be done, including the front teeth. They were so long his back teeth could not close properly to chew his food. This horse had a weight issue that I was working on. With proper dental work, a Panacure Purge and some Cool Calories, he is no longer under weight and is looking great.. And the weight came back on  within a couple of weeks.

So when it comes to denistry, not all vets are created equal.  :)

Lori

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From: Marlene Moss <marlene@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, September 8, 2009 12:46:46 PM
Subject: [RC] dentistry

Interesting discussion.

 

I have never had a vet that didn’t use a speculum, but among those who do – there seems to be a trend to spend more time on the molars than the incisors and often ignoring the incisors altogether because getting those points and other molar problems can cause such issues.  We actually had a boarder who had never had a vet touch her horses incisors and refused to let him touch her horses because that wasn’t “normal”.  She was an odd bird – finally had to kick her (and her 5 horses) out because she wouldn’t worm, vaccinate or get their teeth done.  3 of her horses ate a 750# square bale every 3-4 days and still couldn’t maintain weight.  I was willing to try to educate her through a lot, but not if she wouldn’t vaccinate with her horses next to my pregnant mare.

 

Anyhow, don’t let your vet go too far in the other direction either.  I am very lucky to have a vet whose husband is an equine dentist with an excellent education.  There are a lot of schools out there that teach people more on how to convince clients that their work is legal (in some states is it not, without a vet present) than actually how to do teeth properly and how the mouth really works.

Marlene

 

 

Marlene Moss

www.LosPinos-CO.com - boarding, training, sales

www.KineticEquineAnalysis.com - saddlefit for the horse in motion