Articles ­ Equine Dental Vets

Sometimes as part of caring for your horse, your vet may recommend sedation or anaesthesia to allow another procedure to be performed safely. 

In this article, Dr Chris Quinn, a lecturer in veterinary anaesthesia at Charles Sturt University will discuss why a horse may need to be sedated or anaesthetised; the methods by which horses can be sedated and anaesthetised; and how vets make this as safe as possible.

Biosecurity is not just about controlling exotic or notifiable diseases, or diseases that are fatal to humans; it’s about general disease control in our horses, right across the board, and it all starts with good hygiene practices and infection control. Dr Shannon Lee discussed biosecurity, what you can do about it, and how important it is to both horse and humans.

Tendon injuries are a cause of lameness that is diagnosed in all equine performance disciplines. If you have ever had a horse with a bowed tendon you probably already know that it can be a frustrating cause of lameness. Chances are that your horse never even got better. So why are tendon injuries so difficult to treat? In this feature, published in Horses and People March 2013, Equine Dental Vet Members Drs Kemmink, Batterham and Wells-Smith have come together in this article to explain this common injury.

Do you have an ‘easy keeper’, one of those horses or ponies that seem to gain weight on the smell of a tuft of grass? Does your horse or pony suffer from repeated bouts of laminitis even though you try hard to prevent them? Your horse or pony could be suffering from one of two Equine Metabolic Diseases: Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS) or Equine Cushing’s Disease (PPID). Equine Dental Vet...

Skin diseases of horses in southern Australia. As with all species, skin disease in horses is common. Whereas sometimes symptomatic treatment of the clinical signs results in a successful outcome, many cases are more complex and so good treatment outcomes rely on an accurate diagnosis and a multifactorial treatment and or management approach. In this article Dental Vet Dr Chris Heislers outlines the most common skin diseases affecting horses in...

The most common cause of lameness by far is 'joint disease', a very broad term that encompasses a range of conditions — all of which involve a joint or multiple joints. This report explains what joint disease is, summarises the different types of joint disease as well as the most current and innovative therapies available today.

Advances in dental veterinary practice mean that congenital dental abnormalities such as malocclusion (parrot and sow mouth), cleft palate and wry nose, which severely affect a horse’s ability to graze efficiently, can now be corrected. The key lies in identifying these issues early enough in the foal's development.

Common stereotypies in the horse include wind-sucking, crib-biting, weaving, box-walking, pawing, head-nodding and tongue rolling. These behaviours often cause confusion, concern and annoyance to horse owners, but do they affect horse health, and once acquired, should horses be prevented from doing them?

The majority of horses examined will have some form of periodontal disease. Periodontal disease is defined as disease of the support structures of the tooth (i.e. the periodontium – the bone of the socket, the periodontal ligament running form tooth to bone, the cementum of the “root” and the gum or gingiva) and can be subdivided into two distinct forms – gingivitis and periodontitis.
 
Gingivitis is a reversible inflammation...

It has often been remarked "no feet no horse" and it is equally true to say "No teeth no horse". As horses are now living longer and as we have more and more "Geriatric" horses it is important to understand the dental needs of older horses. Horses have a different type of tooth to humans, one that is designed to wear down over time, so the teeth of horses have...

If you own horses then you should be familiar with the term periodontal disease, and yet chances are you haven't heard of it. This disease is the most common disease affecting horses, with around 70% of horses suffering from its effects. So what is this important disease, what are its effects and how is it diagnosed and treated? Well firstly let's explain the word periodontal, perio means around and dontal...

A horse has many teeth, of several types and this has been discussed in previous articles. One that commonly causes alot of confusion for horse owners is the wolf tooth.

Wolf teeth are a vestigial tooth (this means they are a tooth that is no longer necessary) and can be thought of abit like wisdom teeth in people. Fossil records show that the ancient ancestor of the modern...

Equine dentistry by vets in this form has existed for a long time, but with steadily improving techniques and equipment. It is only ignorance that has prevented the widespread uptake of proper equine dentistry implemented by trained, registered equine vets by horse owners.