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 Post subject: Re: Teeth.
PostPosted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:21 am 

Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 12:03 am
Posts: 760
We have an excellent equine dentist that travels to barns in a specially equipped horse trailer. She sedates horses enough to where they can't quite balance on their own and they get support from the padded stand they are in. She can see a lot of stuff that you could not possibly see without sedation, esp. sharp points on the molars and waves that interfere with an effective bit. We have our mare done once a year, there is no discomfort other than the shot from the sedative. Each horse takes about an hour to do so it's very thorough. Some owners only have their horses done every other year but then their horses have more problems and discomfort when chewing. The cost is about $120.00 for routine care, not counting extractions and other more specialized work but I think it's very well worth it. :)


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 Post subject: Re: Teeth.
PostPosted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 5:05 am 
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Posts: 4941
Location: Alberta
Quote:
Some owners only have their horses done every other year but then their horses have more problems and discomfort when chewing.


I won't have mine done every year unless they indicate they need it. Both my boys are fat. Neither seems to have any issues chewing.

What do wild horses do? They don't get their teeth floated every year :huh:

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 Post subject: Re: Teeth.
PostPosted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 6:21 am 
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Location: New York
Quote:
What do wild horses do? They don't get their teeth floated every year


Here's what I read on a DVM site, in answer to this question:

Quote:
Wild horses survived for years without routine dental care, why do our horses need it?
Wild horses are constantly grazing on roughage. This constant chewing creates an even grinding surface and grinds down points and spikes as they develop. Most of our horses have a pelleted or concentrate as part of their diet, or eat in meals two to three times a day. This management predisposes horses to developing dental problems as their teeth are not subject to the constant grinding motion that a horse that is grazing’s teeth do. We also expect our domestic horses to live into their late twenties or even thirties, routine dental care is part of what has enabled our domestic equines to live so much longer. In addition, horse breeders do not commonly select for good mouths and easy keepers as is done through natural selection in the wild. Therefore, we have a higher percentage of domestic horses with conformational mouth issues than we do wild horses with these problems.


:smile:

xo
Leigh

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 Post subject: Re: Teeth.
PostPosted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:52 pm 
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Joined: Thu May 17, 2007 8:18 pm
Posts: 4941
Location: Alberta
Oh, Thank you Leigh! Makes sense and this is likely then the reason my boys don't need teeth done every year. When I was growing up, we never had horse's teeth floated at all. Ever. They all lived out on large pastures. They had hay in winter, but as long as they had grazing, that is how they lived.

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 Post subject: Re: Teeth.
PostPosted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 6:38 pm 

Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 7:50 pm
Posts: 129
Location: Upstate New York, USA
Does anybody make horse denture for old and toothless horses? :green:


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 Post subject: Re: Teeth.
PostPosted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:09 pm 

Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 3:35 am
Posts: 135
Location: U.S..A. Michigan
www.advancedwholehorse.com


This method is the best I have found for working on teeth. They do not sedate (usually ;) ) and they do not use power tools.

I have used equine dentists in the past but nothing was as effective as this.

Most vets are really not trained in working with teeth, honestly I probably would not have a vet work on my horses teeth.

Alot of these guys ( or gals) will travel to other states if you can get a group of horses together. Tom Howell worked on our horses and I reccomand him highly. He even traveled to Norway ( I think it was norway) to work on a group of horses. So don't think your to far away.

If anyone is interested I could pm you his number or post it here.

Leah


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 Post subject: Re: Teeth.
PostPosted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:15 pm 
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Joined: Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:32 am
Posts: 106
Location: Marlborough, New Zealand
I get my horses done before every winter and a worming injection at the same time.

Last time cappy had hooks in his teeth and he also had one tooth removed as it was causing him pain. Both of my horses are fatties and have plenty of trees, hay etc to graze on. Blacky was fine.

I think Cappy is in a bit of discomfort at the moment as when he eats bread etc hes trying to clean his teeth with his tongue. I think I should of had a 6 monthly with him. :blush: About that time again.

Do you guys think it depends on what breed the horse is, on whether horses need a dentist more than others? Cappy a TB and Blacky is a stationbred.

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 Post subject: Re: Teeth.
PostPosted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:25 pm 
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Joined: Fri Jun 06, 2008 7:38 pm
Posts: 701
Location: UK
Birgit wrote:
We have an excellent equine dentist that travels to barns in a specially equipped horse trailer. She sedates horses enough to where they can't quite balance on their own and they get support from the padded stand they are in. She can see a lot of stuff that you could not possibly see without sedation, esp. sharp points on the molars and waves that interfere with an effective bit. We have our mare done once a year, there is no discomfort other than the shot from the sedative. Each horse takes about an hour to do so it's very thorough. Some owners only have their horses done every other year but then their horses have more problems and discomfort when chewing. The cost is about $120.00 for routine care, not counting extractions and other more specialized work but I think it's very well worth it. :)


All our horses are checked each year and need a little work to keep them right. Our dental Technician, Emma, uses a padded support if she needs to sedate a horse. She is very good with the horses and usually does them without sedation. I had Gaucho done towards the end of last year and she did him without sedation, considering how difficult he can be i thought she did very well.

It is surprising what problems uneven teeth can cause even if the horse is eating okay. Emma picked up that the teeth of my mare Sarah were not sitting level, she said this would be causing tension in the poll area. After motorised dental treatment she was a different horse.

Annie what you describe is called quidding, the horses teeth become sharp and can cause ulceration and cuts inside the cheeks, this makes it painful for them to eat. Vets are not always the best people to do your horses teeth, a good equine dentist who is Beaver(think that is spelt right) qualified is best.

Eileen

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 Post subject: Re: Teeth.
PostPosted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:08 pm 
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Joined: Sun Sep 02, 2007 3:20 pm
Posts: 1822
Location: Norway
Yes - this is the same I have used last summer! And I was totally owerwhelmed by it and will travel long ditance to get this done again if necesserry.... And the horses was totally relaxed during the whole thing - and none of them sedated..... (And yes - I suppose this is the same Tom as have visited "my" Iren and worked with her some.. :) ).




Mustang wrote:
http://www.advancedwholehorse.com


This method is the best I have found for working on teeth. They do not sedate (usually ;) ) and they do not use power tools.

I have used equine dentists in the past but nothing was as effective as this.

Most vets are really not trained in working with teeth, honestly I probably would not have a vet work on my horses teeth.

Alot of these guys ( or gals) will travel to other states if you can get a group of horses together. Tom Howell worked on our horses and I reccomand him highly. He even traveled to Norway ( I think it was norway) to work on a group of horses. So don't think your to far away.

If anyone is interested I could pm you his number or post it here.

Leah


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 Post subject: Re: Teeth.
PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 4:54 am 
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Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 12:03 am
Posts: 1351
Location: Washington, Maine USA
Hey Annie and all!

Jack has a messed up mouth and had to have an incisor realignment last fall! Hence, I learned how important the FRONT teeth are!!! If the front teeth are too long or out of alignment, the molars won't be able to grind correctly, etc.! And I will probably need to to have more regular check ups for him as he ages to keep his mouth balanced.

One thing you could do is just sit and watch them eat their hay to see who is having trouble or not???? I noticed he had trouble chewing and often dropped hay while eating, eventually he lost weight. After the realignment, he is much more comfortable all around and can keep up with Lucy when eating hay now!!


Here's another link I just found on another list, scroll down to the dentistry presentation:

http://www.equinesoundness.com/courses.htm

My dentist is great, so great that he floated Lucy's teeth WITHOUT sedation a few months ago! In addition to being calm with the horses, he explains everything that he does and why, etc. He doesn't do any more than he needs when he floats and is really focused on function.

Brenda

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 Post subject: Re: Teeth.
PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 2:35 pm 

Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 3:35 am
Posts: 135
Location: U.S..A. Michigan
Hi Brenda,

I took a look at your link and realized that guy was trained by the same same school that taught Tom Howell( the man who Kristi and I used :applause: ) Small world isn't it?

Leah


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 Post subject: Re: Teeth.
PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 4:52 pm 
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Joined: Sun Sep 02, 2007 3:20 pm
Posts: 1822
Location: Norway
I didn't actually use Tom himself - but Iren - who was here - travelled with him last year I know (she educated at the same place and i think she is the one who got him over here...). I live very far away from Iren - so I am SO happy she agreed to travel all the way to me and my horses... :) This is the best method ever... :D (Of course I don't know that - but I really really liked it - and even the horses as mentioned....)


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 Post subject: Re: Teeth.
PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:53 pm 
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Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2007 4:10 am
Posts: 3688
Location: Pacific Northwest U.S.
Karen wrote:
Quote:
Some owners only have their horses done every other year but then their horses have more problems and discomfort when chewing.


I won't have mine done every year unless they indicate they need it. Both my boys are fat. Neither seems to have any issues chewing.

What do wild horses do? They don't get their teeth floated every year :huh:


I think this will be a three part answer:

1. For the most part wild (The Preswalski Horse) and feral horses tend to live in both dry and harsh country. They run toward smaller size, slower growth, high death rates. I would suspect the teeth, like the hooves, tend to be harder, smaller, rougher, but serviceable.

2. Such country is usually very dry and dusty and or sandy. The grit helps to smooth off their teeth as it's picked up in feeding.

3. During the harsher times, such as after the often single annual flush of soft grasses, they don't see another blade for a 50 weeks or so. That and winter leaves them browsing a great deal on harder brushy plants. More tooth wear.

There is a forth answer. They die either after their teeth become unusable and they starve, or they die at a younger age before teeth can reach that stage.

We did pretty well too, in the wild, without lots of things, but I think we suffered much the same fate as other creatures, such as the horse. A quite high death rate being the result. Not a lot of elderly among the prehistoric folks I think.

Some folks were discussing "slow feeding" tools on another forum (Equine Cushings Photo) and the issue of dusty hay and high hanging feed bags came up. Folks were worried about all that dust getting in their eyes, and maybe being breathed.

Two conditions horses have evolved for and I believe not dangerous really unless they are otherwise compromised say in their respiration processes.

And I can't remember when I've ever seen any hay derived particles in a horses eye and had to call the vet.

Finally, the dust serves their dental needs as it did their ancestors.

For myself, the stuff makes me sick for a day. Just like a bad cold if I get a big whiff of it. But then I'm allergic to lots of grass products, including most grass derived grains, cane sugar, and similar. In fact, I've got a stiff neck right now and swollen glands in the neck from moving too fast this morning with the hay transport. Got a nice shot of pollen and hayfield dust. They sure cut that batch low to the ground. :)

I am with you on the need before treatment mindset. Same with worming. I only worm if a fecal sample says I must. (Altea was clean as of last week's sample analysis ... looks like Bonnie will be for a long time as well then).

I'm the same about myself. Natural health maintenance when I can, see the doctor when I must. Where there is actually a need. Of course at my age ... :roll: :D

Donald

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So say Don, Altea, and Bonnie the Wonder Filly.


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 Post subject: Re: Teeth.
PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 7:27 pm 
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Joined: Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:43 pm
Posts: 598
Location: UK
Wow, what interesting reading all this makes, and so many different thoughts.

Well I have found out who it is. I did what you said Brenda, put hay out and just sat and watched. It's Storm, my 9yr old. Then yesterday I noticed he had a small wet patch on his cheek, directly below his eye but further down, where his bottom jaw back molars would be, Oh god I thought, he's got a bloody abcess, and it's breaking out. I got some scissors and cut thefur down and it is a bit weepy, it could be a thorn or something, today it is dry?????? But he is just fine???? Would be in agony if he had an abcess I would of thought. He does seem to have a problem chewing, though he is grinding his hay on the back teeth, every now and then he seems to sort of chew with his mouth open, like he's haveing problems, then a tiny bit comes out, and he searches in the hay for it and eats it again.

I have a lovely girl coming out anyway, she realy seems to know her stuff, I do know her but thought she wouldn't come out this far, so I know she is just lovely. She said that she doesn't need to sedate, she said that she is very gentle, takes the time it takes, so I'm going with her on that. She also said that she encourages the owner to take a good look too so they get an idea of whats going on aswell, which sounds wonderful, I can't wait to find out whats going on, I'll keep you posted.......wish us luck!!

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 Post subject: Re: Teeth.
PostPosted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 7:57 pm 

Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2008 9:58 pm
Posts: 1622
Location: Western Cape, South Africa
He may have just rubbed his face there as his mouth inside is sore?
It's seems like a happy ending.......I am sure it will be.
A great chance to educate yourself more and would love to hear how it goes.
Isn't this forum fab!!!!

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Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. - John Lennon


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