Horse Bitting issues
The importance of the Equine Dentist
Firstly how do you know your dentist is competent and qualified to look inside your horses mouth and give an opinion on what needs to be done?
Furthermore, how do you know your equine dentist is trained to recognised standards of training to carry out specific procedures?
The problem is that anyone can decide to call themselves an equine dentist and get away with it provided they stick to basic work such as rasping sharp edges. How shocking is that?
Recently the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons recognised they did not have sufficient resources to support specialist equine dentistry and there are a number of equine dentistry procedures that are covered by the Veterinary Surgeons Act of 1966. It has been agreed that certain procedures can be made exempt from the Veterinary Act of 1966 for suitably qualified equine dentists who after examination are issued with exemption certificates in order to carry these procedures normally falling under the veterinary surgeons act of 1966.
The Worldwide Association of Equine Dentistry and the British Association of Equine Dental Technicians are the two registration bodies that exist where you can find registered Equine Dental Technicians or Equine Dentists (same thing) who have passed rigorous examination to industry standards approved by DEFRA in consultation with The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
A note of caution is that some WWAED Members have passed the initial Level one certificate and are qualified to carry out basic procedures that most horses receive, so if someone says they are qualified the question is to what level ? A level one certified horse dentists is qualified to carry out most basic equine dentistry procedures but for more complex work they would need to call on some one who is a level two certified equine dentist? This is detailed under a code of ethics laid out by the governing body.
That said equine dentists that are level one certificated have been examined for competence, and are often working towards level two under a mentor and therefore are capable of doing good work although they are limited in the range of issues they can treat or correct. The fact they are registered does mean they are on the pathway to further improvement as an equine dentist and will have insurance in place covering the scope of work they are qualified to do.
Level two certified members can do a lot more because a category 2 exemption examination pass from either the WWAED or BEVA is endorsed by the RCVS and DEFRA and is the only recognised equine dentistry qualification in the UK.
Horses teeth are different to our own teeth and are called Hypsodont incisors and cheek teeth which are growing all the time. In a period of six months, they can grow typically between 2mm and 6mm normally and need regular checking for dental issues and wear.
The normal chewing action of the horse and the presence of a round and round grinding action causes the premolar and molar teeth to wear unevenly as the Maxilla (upper jaw) sits wider than the mandible (lower jaw). This results in sharp edges developing over time on the cheek side of the row of teeth on the upper jaw while on the lower jaw sharp edges develop on the inside of the lower jaw row of teeth.
This results in sharp edges cutting into the cheek from the upper jaw line of teeth and sharp edges developing on the inside of the lower jaw line cutting into the tongue.
Now imagine your horse has sharp edges on the upper line of molars impacting on the inside of the horses cheek and then you tighten up the noseband restricting the cheek, with the effect of pressing the cheek into these sharp edges, or the horses tongue is moving to escape the pain coming from the lower jaw teeth sharp edges.
So question is this a bitting issue of is it time for the equine dentist?
Getting sharp edges removed using a rasp of power tools is a skill that needs to be applied with training and experience and being able to identify a multitude of other issues including the presence of caps or milk teeth (the deciduous teeth) from emerging permanent teeth in young horses, or the removal of wolf teeth, should be done by a trained approved equine dentist.
Diastema or food pocketing in the interdental junctions of the teeth causes impaction and periodontal disease which can be very painful but with corrective maintenance of the horses mouth this can be minimised preventing quidding and halitosis.
There is a myriad of other issues that can occur within the horses mouth that are teeth related and so a qualified dentist is essential to your horses wellbeing and welfare under saddle.
Qualified Equine Dentists can be found on the member directories of the following websites.
Worldwide Association of Equine Dentistry
The British Association of Equine Dental Technicians