For many years used the same dentist, but had to get another one for Buddy as he needed sedation and the original one did not work with sedated horses. Today Buddy's dentist came to do them all, as the other dentist is off post surgery.
I was shocked that ALL of the horses except Buddy and Suze had terrible issues with their mouths, Harmony was the worst which was really upsetting. They were all done 2 days after she arrived and I am horrified that she has been ridden with so many sharps in her mouth and a fractured tooth. She also had damage to her cheeks. Harmony, Scooby and Fleur were sedated - Scoobs did a rear and over backwards so no option, and Fleur was sweating up and getting anxious, Harmony was ok at first then got agitated. So they were all sedated so he could do a full dental on them including doing right at the back. They all had very high ridges at the back and Scooby had a wave pattern.
The new dentist spent much more time per horse - actually trained my other dentist. He said that the first time he did Buddy, he thought he would last about six months, but on this visit, he checked Buddy, said he didn't need anything done as his mouth was perfect. His weight and general condition show that he is having no bother eating, despite being 31. Suze wasn't too bad but the other three looked like they had never seen a dentist in years.....I am furious especially for Harmony.
Essentially my vet who was there for almost 4 hours with the dentist said that to get a good job done you often need to sedate them and the dentist reckoned that once he gets them up to how they should be, often they only need doing every two years. Ironically she came out to sedate Buddy as the others are usually done without and he and Suze, who is an unlikely candidate to be top of the class was perfectly well behaved. Lily donkey had the gag in and some hand rasping gently and did well.
So Buddy's dentist will do them all in future as I feel so disappointed that despite having their teeth done regularly they were in such a poor condition.
I was shocked that ALL of the horses except Buddy and Suze had terrible issues with their mouths, Harmony was the worst which was really upsetting. They were all done 2 days after she arrived and I am horrified that she has been ridden with so many sharps in her mouth and a fractured tooth. She also had damage to her cheeks. Harmony, Scooby and Fleur were sedated - Scoobs did a rear and over backwards so no option, and Fleur was sweating up and getting anxious, Harmony was ok at first then got agitated. So they were all sedated so he could do a full dental on them including doing right at the back. They all had very high ridges at the back and Scooby had a wave pattern.
The new dentist spent much more time per horse - actually trained my other dentist. He said that the first time he did Buddy, he thought he would last about six months, but on this visit, he checked Buddy, said he didn't need anything done as his mouth was perfect. His weight and general condition show that he is having no bother eating, despite being 31. Suze wasn't too bad but the other three looked like they had never seen a dentist in years.....I am furious especially for Harmony.
Essentially my vet who was there for almost 4 hours with the dentist said that to get a good job done you often need to sedate them and the dentist reckoned that once he gets them up to how they should be, often they only need doing every two years. Ironically she came out to sedate Buddy as the others are usually done without and he and Suze, who is an unlikely candidate to be top of the class was perfectly well behaved. Lily donkey had the gag in and some hand rasping gently and did well.
So Buddy's dentist will do them all in future as I feel so disappointed that despite having their teeth done regularly they were in such a poor condition.
