Introduction
Cost Effective Dental Care
Equipment
Our Equine Dentistry Service - Benefits
Routine Dental Procedure
Frequently Asked Questions about Equine Dentistry in the UK

Introduction

The Barn Equine Surgery offers a first class and cost effective dentistry service for horses. We have the highest number of vets in the country who have passed the British Association of Equine Dental Technicians (BAEDT) exam. All the vets in the practice are suitably trained in the use of hand tools and motorised instruments and together The Barn provides an unparalleled all round dentistry service.

As well as investing in training, we use modern efficient rasps, various motorised tools and have full surgical facilities to follow through more detailed cases such as cheek tooth removal following root infection. We also accept dental referrals from other practices, and from other equine dental technicians. Our equipment includes an equine periodontal unit which we have used to perform more advanced work than any other private practice in the country.

Each of the vets has in their cars a full mouth speculum for safe and thorough oral examination, head torch, large syringe for cleaning the mouth, a full array of rasps fitted with modern tungsten carbide blades, as well of course sedatives and pain killers for those slightly nervous patients!

Most dentistry is performed on our clients premises, but increasingly we are treating more patients at The Barn. This is usually for more advanced procedures such as correction of severe overbites, hooks and extractions. Some clients however bring their horses to us for more routine treatment simply for convenience and to make use of our facilities.

Our services in Advanced Dentistry include treatments for periodontal disease, restorations ('filling') of diseased cavities of upper teeth, root canal fillings of incisor teeth and intra-oral radiography. Chris Pearce has extensive experience in this field and is happy to see any cases by referral from other veterinary surgeons or EDT's.

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Cost effective dental care

Group dentistry bookings are an excellent way to make high quality dentistry affordable. For 6 or more horses we offer a fixed price per horse of £73 inc VAT, with no visit fee. This price includes the following:

• Visit
• Sedative (low dose for safe thorough examination and rasping)
• Thorough oral examination
• Rasping of all sharp enamel points ('Health Floating')
• 'Performance' floating including rounding of all front cheek teeth
• Removal of any focal overgrowths (includes ramps, hooks, overgrown teeth, waves, spurs etc.)
• Incisor adjustments if deemed necessary

(Advanced dental procedures e.g. removal of wolf teeth is not included but can usually be performed at the same time for our normal fee)

In order to book a group dental / clinic we would request that the following criteria are met:

• 6 or more horses (preferably 10 maximum)
• 1 stable available with bedding swept back / to sides / removed - we will work from 1 stable as there is large amount of equipment (rasps, buckets, power instruments, head stand, medications etc.) to move from stable to stable
•  Electricity supply available 

Please contact the surgery if you would like to arrange a group booking, or alternatively e-mail us.

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Equipment

All of our vets carry in their cars the following equipment for equine dentistry:

• full range of modern efficient rasps with solid carbide blades 

• stainless steel bucket

• large dose syringe for mouth washing

• full mouth speculum (gag) for safe and thorough oral examination

• head torch for examination in the mouth

• 'wolf' tooth extraction kit

• deciduous (baby) cheek tooth extractors 

• anti-bacterial mouthwash

• sedatives, local anaesthetics, tetanus anti-toxin, antibiotics etc.

Most of the rasps are fitted with solid carbide blades. These are more efficient than normal blades and will get the job done much faster.

At the surgery, we also have motorised equipment for correcting particularly severe deformities. These tools are portable, but it is often easier and safer to use the stocks at the surgery for such cases. 

We also have all the equipment necessary for treating surgical dental problems such as the extraction of diseased cheek teeth, and we have performed many such surgeries.  This is a surgical procedure that has traditionally been performed with the horse under general anaesthesia, but we are now,  where possible, extracting cheek teeth via the mouth in the standing sedated horse using specially designed extraction equipment and modern sedative / analgesic continuous infusions.

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Our Equine Dentistry Service has the following benefits:

• Our service is of the highest standard - we are involved in the training and examining of other equine dental technicians and our vets are amongst the most highly qualified in Equine Dentistry in the country

• We are all trained in modern equine dentistry and are also fully qualified veterinary surgeons 

• We can instantly provide sedatives, pain killers and local anaesthetics if needed to make dental treatment safer and kinder for the horse, or when required for e.g. for wolf tooth extraction

• We can provide ancillary diagnostic services such as x-rays to help with more involved cases, and have all the facilities to deal with any dental problems without the need for referral

• We will be (usually) visiting the horse annually or 6 monthly for vaccinations so this provides an ideal opportunity to examine your horse's mouth

• There is no charge for any dental examination, whether or not we carry out any treatment subsequently

• We use dental charts to give you a record of diagnoses and treatment plans

• Group dental booking offer excellent value for money for a first class dentistry service (£59.00 per horse, no hidden extras; see above)

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Our Procedure for Routine Dentistry

All our vets normally aim to follow the same procedure when examining a horse's mouth:

• History is obtained from owner, e.g. age, sex, previous rasping history, any problems with eating, any ridden problems, tetanus status etc,

• Horse is examined for condition score (fat or thin), droppings are examined for evidence of chewing efficiency, dental arcades examined from outside (over skin),

• Mouth washed,

• Incisors are assessed and examined for wear, abnormalities, lateral excursion and balance,

• Full mouth speculum is applied and cheek teeth examined with head torch and by palpation (feel),

• Enamel points are rasped smooth,

• Any other problems treated e.g. wolf teeth, hooks, ramps, over-jets, bit seat,  with horse sedated if required,

• Tartar removed from incisors, canines smoothed if long/sharp,

• Mouth washed again, incisor bite and molar balance reassessed.

• Dental chart completed and copy left with client

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