I'm finally getting Skye to see a horse dentist. And to be true with you she's never seen a dentist the whole 5 years i've owned her. She's never needed it until now. She has been drooling more than half her food on the ground when eating. I'm worried, of course, so i'm going to ring the dentist this week and get them to come down and sort her out. I have a few questions though,
What do they check for, and how?
Is it painful?
What kinds of things could be wrong?
Will Skye be sore afterwards?
Should i ride her before so she's tired?

Sorry about the stupid questions but i'm so nervous, she's my baby and anything new always scares the living daylights outta me.

http://equisearch.com/horses_care/health/dentistry/teeth_float012904/

A lot of what they check you should be checking. It is easy enough to check teeth to see if they have points.
What the dentist does depends a lot of the state you are in and if he is a vet or not.
Most dentist want to sedate a horse to do it's teeth. This often requires a vet also because in most states it is against the law to give an injection to a client's unless you are a vet.
Most dentists use a mouth spectrum to hold the mouth open to work on the teeth. Most of what thy do is not painful, most horses do not like the idea but are not hurt.
I have seen a number of horses not recover well from sedation and die within a few weeks.

Oh goodness.... good on you for making me scared out of my mind.... This dentist doesn't sedate and uses a mouth spectrum. There's not much i can do for Skye without a dentist, she's been drooling her food everywhere. But i hope to get the vet to come down on Saturday so i can come back on Sunday to check her out.

I've been using an equine dentist for years and the only time she had them sedated was when my older guys had their incisors done.... no side effects for either of them from the sedation. And other than when the incisors were done they've never been sore, they usually come in from turnout and go right back out as soon as she's done, I don't do any medicating for pain or to calm them. Honestly, unless you have someone who's not particularly competant, having an equine dentist float your horse's teeth is no big deal.

Oh, and although I'm sure that some horses don't respond well to sedation most do just fine or vets wouldn't be running the risk of sedating when teeth can be floated so easily without sedation.

Ok thanx a lot for that. I'll just let the dentist do what he does best. So nervous!

FYI: I've NEVER known a horse to 'die within a few weeks' after sedation. If so, there's something major missing from the equation; colic, a compromised immune system, failing kidneys, other massive illness that makes the sedation extremely tough on their systems.

There is a risk to sedation - but most horses that are affected by it show IMMEDIATE signs, just like there is a risk when humans are put under anesthesia.

HOWEVER, the VAST majority of horses NEVER have any problems with sedation at all, and horses are sedated to have their teeth floated ALL the time. My vet/dentist always sedates. The benefits for having the horses teeth floated absolutely outweigh the small/miniscule risk from sedation.

I agree with Sansena, too. If a horse has a problem WEEKS after the sedation, I would be looking at other causes for the "root" of the problem, not just the sedation.

The vet clinic I started using has one vet who has taken specialized training in equine dental and does all the dental work. He gave me the option of doing floating by hand or with the use of an automatic tool (I don't recall the name of it) but... it doesn't get hot like what some dentists use. I clarified that point before I allowed him to use it. He put Bridget in a special, quick-release contraption (whatever they call those things.... it's early (for me) and words aren't coming easily...lol.) and sedated her just enough to relax her. I watched the entire procedure, and he showed me the sharp points on her teeth. They are in fact easy to feel. Overall, I was impressed by the whole thing, and it seemed pretty painless for Bridget. He recommended having her checked once a year, but that she may not need to be floated that often.

I don't think i'll be able to watch it. She's not attached to me so it won't bother her if i'm not there. But anything that might put her in pain i just can't deal with.

I don't want to sound rude or mean here but... you really should learn to get over it because someday your horses life may depend on it. What if she is bleeding profusely and you need to compress it and call the vet? What if you need to hold/help in an emergency situation? Floating teeth is really not that tramatising - you should stick around. Just a thought.

If there was alot of pain associated with floating more horses would have issues with it. Based on watching my horses I think it's probably mildly uncomfortable....certainly more comfortable than a human cleaning by the average psychopathic dental hygienist!!

And the other poster is right, you need to be able to handle small things like this because the day may come when he needs your reassuring presence to get through a really painful experience. It's part of taking care of you horse and I suggest making getting comfortable with it a goal for you.

I haven't read all the posts but I had my previous horse's teeth floated and he did fine. The vet did the floating, and he gave Dom. a mild tranq. Just enough to calm him so they wouldn't be doing a battle, and he wouldn't be spooking in the middle of the float . Domino was fine, he had no problems, the tranq. wore off after about two hours, he wasn't sedated enough that he couldn't walk, he was just very happy and relaxed . He had several bad teeth - one was so long it was almost punching into the roof of his mouth. He ate his supper that night super well - no quidding - and instead of it taking three to four hours to eat, it was gone in about one, (maybe less???...) He was a very happy horse. When I reached into his mouth I could feel several teeth which were not even, were too tall, and one that was crooked. They were fine after the float, even the crooked one seemed to straighten out a little .

I wouldn't be worried, I monitor Christy's teeth monthly, and have the vet check when he is here twice a year. When she needs it, she will get floated.

Connie and Christy

My flighty, freak-on-a-leash actually seemed to fall asleep! So it's safe to say some actually enjoy it, especially if there's lots of hooks & sharp spots.

I think they know we're trying to help them.

We get all of our horses done every year. The babies I think we wait until 2 or 3 years old for the first time (sorry I can't remember) We never have to sedate and people I know who sedate have never had any problems. I have only seen one horse in pain, but he had severe teeth problems and felt SO much better after. Every other horse does not look to be in any pain.

Our horses eat and ride so much better with their teeth done. I can feel a differnce under saddle right after their teeth are done or if we are late with getting their teeth done. I have also had what I was told was a hard keeper turn into an easy keeper once I got his teeth done.

No worries about the dentist. It is really good to watch, usually the dentist teaches me a lot when I am there. Good Luck!