What to expect from your horses' dental visit

Recently, I have had a few clients where they just weren’t sure what was expected from a dental visit.

They’d heard a lot of opinions of which tools and which person – but does that really set you up for success if you’re not sure what to expect?

So I wanted to break it down for you into the basics.

** disclaimer - This is personal opinion only based on my experiences and knowledge only ** 

So what should you expect from a dental visit?

(Regardless of WHO)

1. Transparency.

A clear booking time. A clear idea of expectations and what is about to happen. Regardless of lay dentist or Vet, time should be taken for them to explain what they’re going to do.

2. Clean and maintained equipment.

Proper equipment is key to a good job. That is in fact what you are paying for, as well as their expertise.

3. An external exam of your horses head.

Are there swellings? Swollen cheeks? Enlarged lymph nodes? Normal jaw movement?

4. Mouth flushed out.

Your horses mouth should be flushed out with a variation of mouth wash, or at least water. This helps clear most trapped food, and can even highlight bad smells.

5. An internal mouth exam.

A light should always be shone in the mouth to examine the inside. Does it seem healthy? Are there suspect growths or tumours? Are there ulcers? How balanced is their mouth?

GOLD STANDARD – is this being done under sedation, with a light and dental mirror. You would be amazed at the problems inside horses mouths that go beyond a “good ol’ rasp”

6. Discussion and highlighting of findings

The person inside the mouth should be making note of – are the gums healthy? Are there gaps between teeth with trapped food? Are there loose teeth? Is the mouth balanced? Are they chewing evenly?

7. Floating of teeth within reason

Teeth are not designed to be baby-bottom smooth. Teeth are very commonly too aggressively floated (commonly with hand tools) to make them “feel” appealing. But this is not in fact what is best for your horse.

Whether this is done with hand tools or power tools comes down to personal opinion and skill level of the user. You could argue this for hours.

8. Record keeping.

You should receive some kind of report to keep as record including the date of the exam, what was found and when they are due again.

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This to me is the absolute basics you should expect to ensure your horses mouth is being treated appropriately.

Every professional is different - we all do things differently // see different things // treat things differently // make different decisions with the case in front of us. But regardless, in my opinion, this is the minimum that should happen at a dental visit.