DENTISTRY

FOR HEALTH & WELLBEING

All of our experienced dental vets have had extensive training in modern dental techniques and we are fully equipped to provide a comprehensive and professional dental service both at your yard and at our state of the art equine hospital.

Regular preventative and remedial dental care is an important part of your horses health and well-being. Routine check-ups allow us to detect and treat issues before they become more significant problems, allowing your horse to utilize his feed more efficiently, perform to his full potential and ensure he is comfortable.

COMMON SIGNS OF
DENTAL DISEASE:

Occasionally, a horse will be dealing with quite significant dental disease with little to no overt clinical signs. However, commonly seen clinical signs include:

Weight loss,
Eating very slowly or dropping excessive feed when eating “quidding”,
Smelly breath “halitosis”
Hanging on one side of the bit more than the other when ridden,
Unsymmetrical wear on bits,
Rearing,
Facial swelling and nasal discharge.
Poorly chewed food (excessively long stalks in manure) may also be seen.

How often should you get your horses teeth checked?

A young horse’s teeth are growing and changing quickly, they are also often commencing their ridden careers. Therefore, up to the age of 5 years old, it is important a young horses teeth are checked atleast twice a year (every 6 months) by a qualified veterinarian to ensure their adult teeth are erupting and they are losing their deciduous (baby) teeth as they should.

Over 5 years old, your horse should have their teeth examined at least once a year. Some horses may need their teeth done more frequently, depending on diet, age, oral conformation or pre-diagnosed conditions.

Unlike people, horses teeth continue to erupt throughout their lifetime. Because of this, small dental imbalances can quickly develop into major, often painful, issues including sharp edges cutting into the sensitive soft tissues of the mouth, displaced teeth, food packing and deeper infections.

Our ambulatory vets are able to bring all necessary equipment for routine procedures to your farm, this includes sedation and pain relief which often make the experience more comfortable for the horse and mean a more thorough examination can be conducted.
Otherwise more intensive cases are able to be brought to our purpose-built, hospital facilities, where our surgeon is available if needed.