Can dentists sedate?

[belle]

I have decided to get the dentist out for my young horse M.

She has never had the dentist before, and is known to be very unpredictable when strange things happen.

I dont think that the dentist will manage to do her teeth without sedating her. Can the dentist do that or does it have to be a vet?

Is there anything I can do to prepare her for the dentist?

[cvb]

some dentists trained as vets first - then they will be able to sedate.

But if not, then I think you'd have to get your vet involved first.

You could ask the dentist for advise ?

[Bebe]

Unless the dentist can prove he's also a qualified vet, he/she shouldn't be sedating horses and you will need your vet present.

[galadriel]

There are several over-the-counter equine sedatives in the US; they're IM, not IV, so they act veeeery slowly. If you have access to something like that (I know you guys don't always :) ) you could give it before the dentist is coming with enough time for it to kick in. Your dentist would probably appreciate it ;)

[Mehitabel]

you might be surprised - some horses (like my grumpy monster) have to be very heavily sedated for vets to do their teeth, but are fine for the dentist. our dentist is extremely good and sympathetic, he took his time with copper and reassured him until he was fine.if you're worried, perhaps call the dentist beforehand and discuss your pony with him/her. our dentist works in conjunction with a local vet, and he calls him out when he has one that needs sedating for serious work.

[DebO]

Only vets can sedate. If you are going to get your vet out to sedate your horse, you may as well get the vet to do it.

[Zingy]

The only sedatives you can use without a vet are things like ACP tablets (useless) or sedolin gel (slightly less useless!).

[mikka]

Sorry to be such a dope (no pun), but is there such a thing as an equine dentist who's not a vet? It had never occurred to me that there might be such a specialty outside of veterinary circles. But, then, I'm not a horse owner and haven't been down that road.

[Bel]

Over here its a case of if you need to sedate the horse the dentist can do it for you, or in my case i just do it myself, and before anyone says you shouldn't do it your self i agree that in most cases most horse owners don't know how or where to give injections and shouldn't. Fourtantly i know how and where, i've worked in the stud industry and it was necessary for me to learn what to do, i was taught by a vet to do both types of injectins, i've had to sedate horses for many reason and its a good thing to know how to do. If your unsure if your dentist can sedate your horse just ask him/her b4 they come and if nessary arange for your vet to be there too. Expecally if this is your horses first time. Also want to add that it might be worth paying a bit extra to have your dentist take his/her time getting the horse used to the equipment first. Once you start having to sedate a horse to get a job done the more often it will happen. I.e. one of our horses was scared of the farrier the first time he had his feet done as a foal, once he was 1 and came back to the stud to be trained he remembered how much he hated having it done and had to be sedated b4 the farrier could get anywhere near him, no matter how gental the farrier was we could never get him to stand and let to job be done with out druging him. To this day he still needs sedating (3 year later) and looks on contiuning.He's now the same way with his teeth.

Hope this is some help and sorry if it sounds like a bit of a lecture. :)

[cvb]

Mikka

More and more these days there is separate training for equine dentists. Some of the European guys got qualified in an American school, but now there are starting to be schools over here too.

So you have vets who do dentist work as part of their overall job, but may not be equine specialists or dental specialists. Then you have vets who have decided to specialise in horses and dentistry and finally you have equine dentists who are not vets, but are specialists in horses teeth ! The last group would not be able to sedate a horse.

[Emma_G_NZ]

I got the dentist out for my pony on Friday. Funnily enough, I did ask him if he ever had to sedate horses. He said that he very rarely has to, as even though my pony was quite naughty, he followed him around the paddock and eventually he started behaving a little bit.
If he ever does have to sedate, he gets the vet to come out and do it.

[belle]

Just an update on the dentist situation.

The dentist came today, I did not have M sedated. She was very difficult, not letting the dentist near her head, also rearing strikng out , and trying to getaway. The dentist was fantastic, dideverything very slowly and managed to do everything needed, although we did have to twitch her at the end.

She will need the dentist in another 6 months, he said her mouth was untouched, probably never been done before, she had quite alot of sharp hooks, which he said would definetely be uncomfortable when ridden.

I feel bad that her teeth were that bad, I should have had them checked earlier. I am also a bit relieved that this could be the reason that she has been throwing me off recently.

I may next time get her sedated, for mine and the dentists safety.

[Mehitabel]

glad he got there in the end! if you're lucky, she might associate the dentist with relief from the sharp teeth and be a bit more cooperative next time.
perhaps give the dentist a ring and see if he wants her sedated next time?

[horse_barn_bum]

where i live you can buy things to sedate your horse at the local feed store.i had a dentist come to get my 17 y/o geldings done.even though my horse has had it done before he still freaked out when we started so we had to sedate him.
the worst part is the sound.well and also the crank they use to hold the horses mouth open.it only took about 3 minutse for the medicine to kick in and calm him down.after that he was the sweetest horse i have ever seen.it takes about 45 minutes to wear off but it probably depends on the medicine.

[horse_barn_bum]

how old is M?? because the older horses get the more slowly their teeth grow.i only get my geldings done every 2 years.he's 17

[belle]

M is nearly 6.

My old pony is 17 and only needs her teeth done yearly.:)