Friday, April 22, 2011

A Day with the Dentist

For those of you that don't have horses,
things aren't as easy as just turning your horse out in a field and making sure he has water.
They need to see the dentist just like you and I.
Maybe even more so.
Horses' teeth grow continuously and they grind down their teeth when they eat.
However, their teeth don't always align perfectly and 
they often have sharp points on the edges of the teeth.

These sharp edges and points can cause abrasions & ulcers on the tongue and inside the cheek.
If his mouth is sore, he won't eat well  and he'll lose weight.
So a yearly dental check is routine,
and dental work is needed about every 2 years.
At the Blue Rock, today was the day.

The vet, who is also the dentist,
brings his own stocks to restrain the horses for the procedure.

First up, Rocky the Suspicious.
The horse is sedated and a speculum is placed in his mouth and cranked open.
Yes, that's a power drill he's using.

This was Jasper's first dental float.
The instrument has a diamond grinding wheel
which quickly takes off the sharp points on their teeth.

Years ago this was done by hand with this type of tool called a float.
The procedure is still called floating teeth.

Sometimes a Dremel tool is used for detailed tooth grinding.

Even Tag does not escape the dental work.
His teeth are more worn down than the younger horses,
but thankfully, he still has all his teeth.
Everyone received their spring shots too.
Gosh, I've had a bad day!

1 comment:

Carole Barkett said...

I'm exhausted just thinking about it, poor fellow