April 21st, 2010

The Horse Dentist Pays a Visit to my Stable

Last week, my horses were paid a visit by Brian Stuart, their lay equine dentist.  You may recall a blog I posted about this topic a couple of years ago.  It is good practice for humans to be seen by a dentist twice a year for cleanings and checkups.  It’s also an important practice for horses to be seen by a dentist just as often because, unlike human teeth, a horse’s teeth continue to grow, developing sharp edges.  Chewing food becomes uncomfortable and digestion becomes a problem.  And a horse’s mood becomes irritable when there is tenderness inside the mouth.  These issues are solved by a process called floating, which means to smooth and contour equine teeth using special files, called floats.  Brian Stuart, who learned his profession through apprenticeship, is highly adept in this field.  Brian also has what this job requires – excellent horse skills and the ability to communicate with them.

◄ Back
1 of 17

1 Rutger knows that the horse dentist is here and that his turn in next.

2 Brian is saying 'hello' to Rutger and is establishing his trust. He begins by running his fingers up and down the inside of Rutger's cheeks to feel for scratches, cuts, sores, or anything unusual.

3 Next, he feels each of the front teeth to determine where work needs to be done. He also uses his sense of smell in case any decay is present.

4 Brian's tools, all clean and ready, are soaking in a dental disinfectant.

5 Just as he suspected, Rutger's teeth will need floating.

6 This file is called a float.

7 Brian begins slowly.

8 As you can see, Rutger is behaving quite nicely.

9 All of the front teeth are floated in this manner.

10 For the more difficult to reach molars, Brian uses a McPherson full mouth speculum to hold Rutger's mouth open.

11 Again, he feels each molar for rough spots and irregular growth.

12 Floating the back molars

13 Horse dentistry is a bit messy, don't you think?

14 Like any good dentist, Brian keeps very accurate records for each horse in his practice.

15 Rinze looks very happy after seeing the dentist.

16 And Ramon is all ready to eat.

17 Meindert is also content.

Posted on April 21st, 2010 in My Home, My Pets, Photo Gallery | Permalink |

Comments

Post a comment

Comments are moderated, and will not appear on this weblog until the author has approved them.