Recomend me an EDT

[XxXAmeyXxX]

Okay so choosing which dentist to use for my horse is a mine field.

I don't want to be told by someone saying that the teeth are all fine yet it is a riddled mess in there (as some people have experienced before) or being conned out of my money and being told it is worse than it actually is!

So who would you recomend, I am in the North Yorkshire area and they would need to travel out to me, cost is not a problem I just want them to do a good job and be reliable.

[*Sez*]

I use my vet, but it depends where in N. Yorks you are. He charges about £30 and is the only person I trust with my horse's teeth. My lad needs a six monthly check up after a jaw infection and the vet always does a really good job, and encourages owners to have a feel for themselves.

[Bessy]

Sorry, can't recommend anyone in your area, but I used my vet last time. Mainly because the last 4 EDT visits have been a disaster and my horse has behaved worse with each visit and therefore needs sedating. I couldn't afford to get the vet to visit to sedate (and ACP doesn't work), AND get the EDT, so I just went with my vet and I was actually happier with the work she did than the EDT. My vets also have a specialist dental surgery. I think vets are much more up to date with teeth now than they were in the past.

[danni&george]

I can reccomend John Taylor, hes fantastic and very patient with them even if they need a time to settle. He has a very wide client base and ive worked with him before and also on the same yard as me!
Pm me if you want number etc

[XxXAmeyXxX]

Thanks for that, hopefully won't need sedation:rolleyes: but you never know so may consider calling my vet.

danni&george I will PM you, he sounds ideal and was the only dentist who has been recomended to me so far.

[lauraandharvey]

PM me if you want to know mine
he charges £40 and if nothing needs doing he doesnt charge anything
hes really good but hard to get hold of
xx

[vikkig]

my dentist covers all over and is a EDT, he is really good and takes his time with the horses

let me know if you want his details. he is amazing my horse loves him, thats after he waitied 3 hours for the vet to come and sedate him :)

[showjumper-zoe]

I can reccomend John Taylor, hes fantastic and very patient with them even if they need a time to settle. He has a very wide client base and ive worked with him before and also on the same yard as me!
Pm me if you want number etc

Are you an about johnathan taylor? If so i'd reccomend him and someone else but forgot his 2nd name:o

[sharpsky]

i only used a vet once, never again

sorry not much help lol

[Jobi-Wan Kenobi]

pm'd you

[danni&george]

Yes Johnathon Taylor, sorry im used to calling him Jon. lol

[loziasa]

Diane Holliday - I know she covers the north west but I am not sure about other areas. Shes really thorough and gives you a full work up of what has been done.

:)

[kez&shad]

Echo Jonny Taylor. He is the dentist for the Equine Charity I work for too, and there are lots of horses who are scared of the dentist so he's great with scaredy cats :)

[DressageD]

I use Ruth PArker , she is lovely and quiet with theh orses and always does a good job . i can PM you her number if you want it.

[showjumper-zoe]

The main dentist I use (rememered his name) is Dean Crossman - he's really good and echo needs someone patient he rubs mints on the rasp.:)
Heather - I've had ruth but she charged me £5 danger money 4 echo and she was only in the stable 1 min:o And made bit of a mess of punches.

Johnathan is good he has a whole day out at our yard as he comes from so far away

[mogadoga]

I use Mark Thorne, afraid i dont have contact details though, hes closer to you than me though so may come out easy enough, he wont come up for less than 8 so he has a whole days work rather than wasting time traveling for one horse. Hes brilliant, doesnt all the way to the back, is patcient and explains whats going on.

There is also Tim batey. Il try find numbers. Ive not used tim but he seems to work as mark does?

ETA: Mark Thorne
North of England, Scotland
01450 373 845

Cant find tims? Anyhoo http://www.beva.org.uk/node/78 look there :)

[SteveG]

You are right, it is a minefield. However, I have put together an article which you might find useful. http://www.wwaed.org/docs/What do you know about your Horse Dentist.pdf

I have tried to provide a balanced approach to selecting an equine dentist. Although I belong to the WWAED, I have tried to not be biased towards that association. I believe that the most important thing is for the horse to get the right treatment.

I would be interested to get some feedback from anybody that reads the article.

By the way, Tim Baty's details are in the dentist section on our site.

Cheers

Steve
WorldWide Association of Equine Dentistry

www.wwaed.org

[colettybetty]

Thanks Steve, (only just come across this post BTW ), the article is very helpful, I spent hours trawling around google last month looking for an EDT when I moved to a new area. Because as an ordinary owner, I know very little about teeth and along with local recommendation, needed evidence that the EDT I chose was qualified to do the job. I've had some dentists in the past that didn't leave me feeling very confident in their level of expertise, the only person I was happy with is so much in demand, you need to book a year in advance.
Fortunately, found a very good EDT who did a lovely job (and was very sypathetic with my stressy mare, all credit to him.)
Out of interest, why do so many dentists train in the USA, and why is sedating so common over there ?

[SteveG]

Hi ColettyBetty

The reason why many dentists go to the US for training is because there is more training available in the US. In the UK, there are a couple of small establishments but the credibility of the instructors is not always easily established.

I get a number of contacts from people who say that they would like to become an equine dentist and could we recommend somewhere to get training? At the moment we cannot honestly make any recommendations. This is an area that we are considering moving into ourselves to compliment our association. It would be a natural development process to train an individual from ground level, through our entrance exam and on to our DEFRA level 2 exam.

Also, LANTRA are currently trying to define the core skills for an Equine Dentist so that it will be possible in the future for people to attend college to train as an Equine Dentist. We are involved in that process.

The reason that most horses are sedated in the US is down to logistics. As you probably know, with America being so spacious, the distance between ranches can be quite big. What tends to happen is that a dentist will work with a vet for an agreed period. The vet will sedate the horses and the dentist will try to do everything they can to the horse. This will not just be maintenance, like you experience in the UK with 6 monthly visits. The dentist may not see the horse again for a couple of years so they will float the teeth hard and may then do an incisor reduction (reduce the length of the front teeth to ensure that the molars or back teeth can meet correctly to chew). They will also remove any teeth that have problems that might come to a head over the next couple of years. The vet can also take care of vaccinations etc at the same time. It tends to be a big bill though!

Working on sedated horses can reduce the need for care in the horses mouth, as the horse will not feel so much pain in this condition. Working on non-sedated horses ensures that the dentist demonstrates care when rasping, making sure not to pinch the cheek or catch the tongue, as a non-sedated horse will quite happily show displeasure!!

All in all, I believe that working on a non-sedated horse can create better skilled dentists. I also believe that if sedation can be avoided it should be. It is stressful for the horse and takes time to get out of the system. Although you should not generalise, if sedation is recommended for a horses regular dentistry and the horse is not a difficult horse, then I would doubt the ability of the dentist. In general, only badly behaved horses and more serious dental work should require sedation. Sedation should not be used to aid the dentists ability or horse handling skills.

Sadly, it is easy to misrepresent your work to an owner. If a farrier fitted a shoe incorrectly you could see the shoe and make a judgement. If a dentist has not worked on the sharp hooks or ramps at the back of your horses mouth, how will you know? You can't take a look to check, you have to take their word for it. Horses have a high pain threshold and it might be a year or two before those long hooks or ramps are cutting into the opposite arcade and causing enough pain for us to notice. Even then it might only show when we strap them down with a bridle. However, the horse will have suffered some degree of pain throughout that whole time. It really does pay to make sure you know your dentist!

Cheers

Steve
WorldWide Association of Equine Dentistry

www.wwaed.org (http://www.wwaed.org)