What do you as a Vet think of the new Equine
Dentists that are coming out of the school in Idaho? Or any other
school.
I just had my vet here this morning and asked
him to float my four year old geldings teeth.
I also have a Equine Dentist from another
country staying with me for a few months.
My Vet allowed this woman dentist to "check"
his work. We were very lucky as my horse is very quiet and did not need a
speculum, Vet used his thumb to keep the mouth opened.
After Vet finished, the Equine Dentist was
invited by the Vet to feel.
she said the number 11, which is the tricky
molar was still very sharp. So Vet told her to take his floats and have at
it.
She has a different type of floats and had some
trouble getting to the number 11 with his larger floats, but she did get some of
the sharpness off.
After the Vet left and horse was somewhat still
sedated, Equine Dentist came up to the house and got her own tools and
with her thinner and specialized float got back to number 11 and got
the points off.
She also mentioned the corner incisors were
longer than the other incisors and should be floated to give proper balance to
the jaw.
And then she mentioned the number six which is
the first molar, that would be considered as the tooth for the bit seat, should
be also floated down more than the other molars to give more space against the
bit hitting the molar and she says that the number six molar is not being
grinded down like the other molars,because of the high quality food that
we feed our horses as opposed to wild horses that are actually grinding all the
molars in the circle that is normal to keep all teeth at the same or near same
level.
The sixth and eleventh molars are not being
used effectively for grinding like the molars between those two molars, thus the
need for more concern on the sixth and eleventh which are getting the "hooks"
and sometimes really large hooks that then cause the pain in the mouth.And
according to her, more importantly, they are not getting the food that they need
and then you will find a thin horse because the food is falling out of their
jaw.
so she feels that the number six molar needs to
be rounded more and then they would not need to be floated every six months but
once a year.
Now, to the question on the canine teeth. She
asks if the person that is inquiring is absolutely certain that she is seeing
canine teeth and not wolf teeth.
she has not seen a horse sprout canine teeth at
age two, but the wolf teeth can erupt as early as a year and usually between 6
and 9 months. It could happen that a horse could get a second pair of wolf
teeth, but the canines are only one set. And the norm is like the poster said,
coming in between age 4 and 5, exceptions for everything but very
rare.
Just in discussion with her, I thought that
canine teeth were the same as wolf teeth, but she corrected me on
that.
So I guess one should be absolutely positive
that they are indeed talking canine teeth at this late
age.
Anyhoo, would like to hear what you think of
the Equine dentistry, as my Vet thinks it is just a money making scam.
Hmmm.
>I have > had a couple of vets, horseshoers and trainers look at
him and had answers > of between 6 and 8, with 7-8 being the
consensus. Well, in the last couple > of weeks he sprouted
upper canines! Everything I can find on the 'net says > the
canines come in between 4 and 5. His behavior has always been >
consistant with a younger animal, but that could be environmental and
lack > of socialization. He is low man in the herd, is very
emotionally > immature/insecure, and still "gapes" his whole mouth to
show submission like > a foal. > > So, do I take this new
tooth development to validate my impression of his > age; or can they
come in later and I should go with what the "experts" have > told
me?
First, get a vet well-versed in dentistry to make the
determination. Second, there is considerable variation in eruption of
canines, so he could well be a few years older than the
norm.
