Equine Veterinary Dentistry
So where are we now in equine veterinary dentistry in New Zealand?
Although New Zealand lags behind the northern hemisphere in terms of equine veterinary dental advances, with the efforts of a few keen people here and in Australia, we’re catching up!
The education has always been available in the northern hemisphere, but now is readily available here and in Australia, to those veterinarians interested in improving their knowledge of current therapy in equine dentistry. Although in the past, some veterinarians have not been keen to perform equine dentistry, that seems to be changing fast.
Veterinarians already have extensive knowledge of oral and dental anatomy, physiology, pathology, diagnostics, treatment and pharmaceuticals. Veterinarians look at whole horse, not just the teeth, and are able to observe clinical signs within the oral cavity (mouth) or head which may indicate conditions requiring veterinary care in other parts of the body or organ systems, (eg: Cushing’s Disease).
Veterinarians can also offer tetanus prophylaxis, a very important part of dental, as well as of general veterinary, care as well. With their in-depth training, your equine veterinarian with current postgraduate training in equine dentistry is well placed to examine, diagnose, sedate and treat the dental conditions of your horse better than others in the field.
Some still believe sedation is unnecessary for good dentistry. I believe that sedation is necessary for a good examination. Sure, one can float a horse’s teeth without it, but exactly what are they treating? Do you want me to place a mirror into your horse’s mouth without sedation? 🙂 I used to think I did a pretty good job of dentistry without a full mouth speculum, a mirror, a good intraoral light and sedation.
The more I learned, however, the more I realised what I must’ve been missing. If you don’t look for oral disease, you won’t find any. It is all very well to feel what is going on in a horse’s mouth, but to get the full picture, one needs to see every tooth, probe them, and truly examine them. Use of a full mouth speculum, sedation, intra-oral light, and mirror on a fully-rinsed mouth allows your veterinarian to really evaluate your horse’s mouth for any pathology.
Stocks, (portable or stationary) allow the horse to be contained and offer stability to the sedated horse and provide a great method of stabilising the patient’s head. A horse standing quietly under short term sedation (ie, horse awake and fully ready to walk out of the stocks, for a routine dentistry, in less than half an hour), allows the best possible examination of your horse’s mouth, and also makes it as safe as possible for your horse, the handler and the veterinarian. This, to me, is the ultimate in horse, client, and veterinarian care.
Why don’t I call myself a ‘horse dentist’?
Throughout this site, you may note that I call myself an equine veterinarian with a particular interest in equine dentistry, rather than an “equine dentist”.
According to the Dental Council of New Zealand, The term ‘dentist’ is a registered title under the HPCA Act 2003. In order to legally use this title you would need to be a registered dentist, not someone who has taken a short course in “horse dentistry”, but a dentist: trained, examined and registered as a human dentist.
According to the DCNZ, one may use a title indicating an interest in dentistry (eg. a vet with a particular interest in pet or equine dentistry). SO, no matter how much training I receive, no matter how much “dentistry” I do, unless I go to a human school of dentistry, it would be unethical to term myself a “dentist” of any type! Sounds fair to me!
I had extensive equine dental training (mostly on unsedated patients) whilst a student at the University of California at Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine (USA). “Modern equine dentistry” as some know it today, began in the USA, UK, and Europe around that time. Since then I’ve studied equine dentistry extensively and achieved my Membership in the Australia New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists, (MANZCVS). See my CV for details.
Key Take-Home Message:
Your horse’s suboptimal performance or discomfort may be partly or totally due to mouth pain. If one doesn’t look closely, one won’t see oral problems!
Thorough veterinary oral examination plus appropriate treatment equals happy horse and happy owner….
©2011 Blue Mist Holdings, Ltd
Downloadable Dentistry Articles
Where can I learn more about what comprises quality equine dentistry?
This three-part series was published in Vetscript magazine.
Click on each to download the articles.
Please Note:
These articles were published by Elizabeth Thompson DVM in Vetscript magazine and are posted with permission of the publisher. You may download them for your own reading only. They are not to be reproduced without the permission of the publisher.
Postural Rehabilitation
What can we do about wastage in horses?
Wastage due to lameness and respiratory disease is well documented but that associated with expected yet unfulfilled promise or decline of performance and/or behaviour–related problems may be even greater.
Over the past ten years, the author has utilised Postural Rehabilitation (PR) for many equine problems, including poor performance unrelated to lameness or illness. PR, a whole-horse approach encompassing acupuncture, Ortho-Bionomy or chiropractic, exercise therapy, saddle fitting and hoof balancing, can rapidly improve horses’ posture and balance, leading to better performance and more comfortable horses.
For these problems, significant and long-term improvement of movement, performance and attitude have been noted following PR treatment, frequently accompanied by the cessation of pain–related behaviour problems and a rapid return to previous or higher level of performance without drug residues or side-effects. The followup exercises, hoof balancing and riding recommendations serve to maintain the horse long-term, eliminating the need for perpetually continuing visits to maintain optimum health.
Most veterinarians were not taught to evaluate necks and backs as a potential source of subtle lamenesses. These may be primary or secondary problems, but they are a very real entity. The decision to utilize acupuncture or traditional medicine should always be made based upon a complete physical veterinary examination and proper diagnosis.
Sometimes, however, a traditional veterinary exam may reveal no abnormalities, though many owners and as well as their veterinarians know that the horse seems to be in discomfort. These horses may sustain compensatory injuries or suffer a decline in performance and/or attitude, leading to their being sold as unsuitable, a form of wastage.
Many of these subtle and not so subtle problems defy diagnosis by conventional veterinary examinations but may be diagnosed in Eastern terms and respond well to acupuncture and Ortho-Bionomy (OB) or chiropractic treatment, (ie. sciatic pain).
Sometimes combining types of therapies is helpful: e.g. a horse with chronic hock pain may respond to intra-articular hyaluronate but still remain slightly lame until the compensatory neck and back spasm and pain are treated with acupuncture and OB or chiropractic techniques.
Chiropractic problems in horses tends to be of a chronic, or long-term nature. The causes of equine ‘chiropractic subluxations’ are usually harder to treat than the actual misalignments. These causes may include poor saddle fit, hoof imbalance, suboptimal riding technique and rider imbalance.
Unless these challenges are addressed and changes made, these subluxations, subtle lamenesses and ‘attitude’ problems which disappear post chiropractic and/or acupuncture treatment will usually recur. PR therapy includes a physical examination, acupuncture and chiropractic examination, acupuncture and chiropractic treatment, evaluation of hoof balance and saddle fit and instruction in postural exercises.
Optimal hoof balance is imperative for maintenance of treatment results. Duckett’s method of hoof balancing is frequently utilised, minimising length to breakover, maximising caudal upport and lateral expansion and improving mediolateral balance.
These changes allow a horse to stand with legs vertically beneath him and to work in a more balanced manner. The author seeks to maximise performance potential in her client’s horses to help prevent wastage of good horses and of clients’ time and effort.
©2011 Blue Mist Holdings, Ltd