Teeth Floating

[KanoasDestiny]

Do you do it yourself, or have your vet/farrier do it?

 

[shorthorsemom]

Vet does mine.. would never consider doing myself. Put my finger in my boys mouth once and he accidently crunched me like a carrott. Took the nail off and broke my thumb. Very gross. I don't have the mouth thingy that safely keeps mouth open.. vet does fine and can lightly sedate if necessary. Farriers are not allowed to sedate and so rather than wrestle and traumatise I would prefer to have vet do the floats so we have all options from get go. There was a time when vets were horrible at floating and I only used a regular equine dentist but now laws changed about what equine dentists were allowed to do and I think vets have come a long way in training. I now have a dental specialist vet and she is awesome. Hope this helps. Teeth are like the feet trims.. plenty of opportunity to mess up if you don't know what you are doing. Best wishes.

 

[Kendra]

I also would only have a veterinarian float my horse's teeth. I've worked for a vet clinic for - holy smokes - 13 years now, and I've seen lots of cases where all the dental issues weren't even visible until after the horse had been sedated, especially in ponies and Miniature Horses with their smaller mouths.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Get an equine dentist, if possible. In my experience few vets have the correct tools for miniatures. I took mine to vets for 10 years before discovering a dentist, and can't believe the difference.

I can't imagine doing teeth. Purchasing the equipment alone would finance many floats. Not to mention the cost of learning how to do it.

If one had a large herd and felt motivated to do it, that might be different.

 

[shorthorsemom]

Ps. My vet practice did invest in the mini floats. Never use big horse floats on the minis is my opinion. If you use an equine dentist you will need vet to administer anesthesia however if my vet was not well trained in mini floating I would be looking for an equine dentist and only have the vet there for the anesthesia part.

 

[Lil Eowyn]

The vet does my horses.

 

[Rhondaalaska]

Vet does mine

 

[Jean_B]

I've been raising horses for over 40 years, minis for over 20. Once...and only once have I had a vet even think of looking at my horse's teeth, and will never allow one to do so again UNLESS they have gone to a certified equine dental school and completed all the coursework. I now will ONLY allow a certified dentist look in my horses' mouths. And never in a million years would I consider doing it myself. Most vets have just a very rudimentary exposure (a couple of days) to equine dentistry (think about it...in 3 years they have to learn about a zillion different species of animals and all their various ailments). Kudos to those veterinarians who go the extra mile to go to equine dental school. (NOTE: A friend's daughter was almost killed by a run-away in a driving class, after THREE different so-called "equine" vets had looked at the horse's mouth and said it was fine. Took the equine dentist to their place to look at the horse, and almost threw up when he showed us the damage the hooks were causing to the inside of the poor horse's mouth. I can only imagine the extreme pain he was in from that bit in his mouth!) And in all the years of having the equine dentist work on my MANY horses - have NEVER had to sedate a single one of them. Just need to have a dentist and handler that know what they are doing.

 

[ohmt]

I use equine dentists and only the ones that don't need to put them under.

 

[KanoasDestiny]

Thank you everyone. I would never consider doing it myself. I have always had my equine vet do it, which has never had to sedate them. The only reason I ask is because my farrier raises racing thoroughbreds, and he floats them himself. Out of seven years, I have never asked him to look at my horses mouths but recently I became curious if it was something that other horse owners do themselves.

 

[MindyLee]

I float my own, but every couple of yrs, I have a equine dentist come in and do a over all and take care of anything I cant. My dentist says I do a great job and is happy my horses are used to their mouths being tuched. I DO NOT pull or cut teeth, just file/float. I have a spectulum, and several diff floats.

I only do my own and no one elses even tho asked. However, as a farier, I do look into mouths and inform folks about the importance of proper dental care and hand out my dentist and vets card if needed.

 

[chandab]

The farrier I had until last October did dental work (he moved); I have no idea if he went to school for it or not. I did have float one horse's teeth, and when the equine dentist came 6 months later, that horse needed significant work done, so never again. [At best it was a temporary fix while I waited on the dentist.]

 

[wingnut]

In our area, vets defer to equine dentists. The equine dentists work with vets when sedation is necessary. So far, we haven't needed to do that. Finding someone who will do a mini is sometimes tough (I found). I got luck though and ended up with an amazing man in our area. He is so patient and so thorough and so kind. I enjoy having him come every year simply because we have the best time talking as he works.

Which reminds me...I need to get him on the calendar!

 

[tagalong]

We once had a celebrated equine dentist here. I was NOT impressed. He was so caught up in his own awesomeness that he simply lifted the lip of a couple of mares who always need work done - and said they were fine. He tried to wrestle and manhandle a reactive mare who I said who need a bit of sedation and he sneered at me - it was far better in his mind to stress her out and upset her and yell at her - and he finally diagnosed her as crazy after I told him to leave her alone.

When I mentioned that our vet who did them for years (and yes, is also a specialist in equine dentistry) had a file on each horse and always gave me a copy of that year's procedures for each horse, he guffawed and said he did not bother with all that "nonsense".

After Mr. Magnificent had left the area with many ooooohing and aaaaaaahing over him, I had that vet back out to do the horses Mr. Wonderful had said needed no work. They did. A bit of sedation helped the reactive mare get her teeth done. I see nothing wrong with a touch of sedation to make things easier for the horse. I also had the vet recheck one that The Amazing Dentist worked on that I felt had needed more than two brief passes with the float.... and that horse needed two caps popped off and more work done.

Mr. Look At How Great I Am will never be back here. His attitude and poor horsemanship have guaranteed thst...

 

[Max's Mom]

Our vet has specialized training in dentistry, and he does a great job. I understand the reluctance to sedate, however I think sedation is a helpful tool for many horses. I HATE going to the dentist and especially the feeling, sound and smell of the drill, even though I understand what is happening to me and why it is important! My horse gets anxious easily, and there is no real way I can get him used to what he must go through once year when his teeth are floated. I feel it is much less stressful for him, not to mention safer to sedate him, and the vet can do a really good job.

 

[Tab]

This is one area where a vet or someone with special dental training would definitely be recommended. One saved my teen senior stallions life 2 years ago. He had a sharp molar that punctured his upper sinus. With tlc he recovered. Fast forward 2 years, the vet was out to castrate one of my boys, and floated my two smallest minis. Joe needed it again. Look out for the smallest minis needing dental work and stallions. I say the smallest and most delicate faces, and the vet said that stallions are most prone to need dental care.

 

[HGFarm]

I would ONLY use a vet or a QUALIFIED experienced equine dentist. I would NEVER have a farrier do it or attempt to do it myself. Would you have your shoe store salesman work on your teeth? He may know how to floss and brush them but......

There is more to floating than people think and the bite must be level and balanced so that they chew correctly and their bite can 'slide' as it should. If not done correctly, it could cause damage or cause worse problems than what the horse started out with. Also, I would NEVER have anyone but a vet administer a sedative if the horse needs one to get done.

We have Carl Mitz here every year- he will not give drugs and will recommend your vet do that part of it. (Our neighbors had one that needed sedated) Most do fine without, but one in a while, a horse will explode to the point that it's dangerous for the dentist and the horse, and the handlers.