Peanut was sedated, as he won't stop shaking his head for dentists. She spent a long time on his incisors, and said that sedation is helpful since she can then go for perfection. He kept crossing his hocks while under sedation, which led to some interesting listing.
Filing incisors is somewhat unique to her school of equine dentistry, but they believe in getting the incisors properly aligned first, keeping the TMJ in mind, before putting in the speculum and working on the molars.
His molars weren't bad, and didn't take much time. It was mostly those incisors.
And what did she have to say about his teeth? They were incredibly hard, and difficult to float. "His teeth are going to make me sweat!" I tried to sympathize but could only smile to myself. It's like when Dawn starts cursing at his feet because his walls are so thick and hard. I want to feel bad for you, but....
Gene's teeth were a little worrisome. The porcelain ring from his power float was gone, which was nice to hear, but she said that his front lower molars are basically "expired." They were worn to the gum line by the waves he used to have, and they are not recovering. As she said, he's used up his 4-5 inches of tooth, and that all that's left is probably root. Other molars are starting to cup, but I didn't get into the implications of that, just the definition (I knew that there are cups in younger teeth, I never heard of cups in older). There's really nothing to worry about, but his teeth are showing their age. She will send me a link to a pdf she's putting together about all of this, and hopefully I'll understand it all better.
His incisors needed minimal attention, but he had a lot more going on in the molars thanks to his old waves. His teeth will never be normal, but it looks like a yearly float seems to be perfect. Problems were just starting to form, so this was the right time to float.
She also noticed that he has a cyst/abscess on one of his nostrils. There's a tiny little scab, with what feels like a hard ball inside the nostril. Gene definitely didn't like it touched, either. After the float, she picked at the scab and squeezed out all kinds of pus. I was cringing, and she was beaming and saying that it made her day as she loves this kind of thing. She then showed us how to flush it out with a syringe. I don't know if we need to see a vet yet, but Gene was definitely more open to being touched after the release of pressure.
That damn horse and his damn face. He keeps poking it full of holes.
She also said that she plans to move to Tennessee! We had a little chat about the differences in horse care there vs here. She said that she's going to the western side of the state, and the worst in horse attitudes (padded horses) seems to be centered around Memphis.
I told her she's not allowed to move, and she said not to worry as she would still come back up here to visit family and that she'd still be our dentist. Hooray!
On the topic of TN, she said that regular dental care is starting to become more widespread there. I asked what her thoughts were on horses that had never been floated, and, unlike our old dentist who was paralyzed with shock and fear, she merely said "it's no big deal." Horses tend to find some sort of dental balance for themselves. She would MUCH rather have a dental virgin as a client than one who had had regular power floats. They (her school of dentistry) are currently concentrating on the damage done by power floats, so they consider them the worst that can be done to a horse's teeth. She then went on about some new clients of hers who had 10 years worth of power floats, and now she's battling the damage done.
What damage? The heat changes the properties of the tooth. We heard the porcelain ring from Gene's mouth ourselves in a prior float, which immediately made her ask if he had ever been power floated. Yep, once. They are finding that the tooth underneath the "porcelain" part tends to become brittle. I'm interested in reading more information once they start publishing their findings.
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Last night Rick and I went to see the National Acrobats of China at the Wilmington Opera House. Fabulous show, and great seats if I do say so myself (first row, center, balcony). It was really amazing, and beautiful. Much better than I expected.
I need both the Dupont Theater and the Opera House to update their list of performances. Both have ended in May for months. Rrrrr.
4 comments:
Wow, good luck to her in TN! She'll probably do fine - there are a lot of backyard horse owners who want to do right by their horses, and are gradually learning what "right" is, but just don't have the options.
It honestly gives me the heebie jeebies to think too much about dentistry. I can't let human dentists clean my teeth without nitrous (and preferably Xanax too!) and it just freaks me out to think about horses letting us rasp on their teeth. I know, they don't have the nerves we do, but still!
They may not have the nerves, but the vibrations that go coursing through their skulls! The dentist said it's even worse when the incisors are done. I don't blame Peanut for tossing his head.
(wow about the nitrous for cleaning)
It was funny how the TN thing came up. The stalls come off of the field that is right at the barn, and an arabian who hates Peanut was turned out there. The float was done with the stall door open, and she was poking her head in. I told Krystin (le dentist) about the hatred, and said that she probably considered him a redneck that wasn't good enough to be around her royal blood. I said she probably looked down on him for being from rural TN, and she said, "there's nothing wrong with TN!" Then she told me her plans.
I have no knowledge myself, but she claimed that there is quite a bit of difference between the Eastern and Western parts of the state. But, land's cheap, so that's where she's headed. I'm sure she'll do great. :)
Dude, I go to the dentist about once every five years for a cleaning, or when a tooth hurts. I cannot bring myself to go more often. It gives me the heebie jeebies (and by "heebie jeebies" I really mean "very close to a full blown panic attack.")
Anyway. Can your dentist sedate too, or was the vet on hand to sedate? I know different states have different laws about who is allowed to administer sedatives.
Tennessee is a surprisingly big state. It's over 500 miles from Memphis (SW corner) to Bristol (NE corner). By comparison, Memphis to Columbus Ohio was only 600 miles!
The different areas - western, middle TN, eastern - are pretty different, yeah. I suspect it depends on how the land was divided up to the whiteys when it first became a territory - west is cotton country with big plantations, east is mountainous with little homesteads.
Oh yeah? I once went 10 years between dentist visits. I only went back thanks to a tooth ache. :P
TN reminds me a little of PA (since I grew up there). Civilization in the east because of the NE corridor, civilization in the west because of Pittsburgh, and a bunch of Amish, puppy mills, mountains, and corn fields in the middle. It's a long state too - not sure of the miles but you could bet on a 5 hr drive between Philly and Pitts (and $13 in tolls).
I had no idea that TN was so big. I'm an ignorant Yankee.
As for sedation, dentists are not supposed to sedate themselves - it should be done by vets and usually you call both out at the same time. Krystin knows how and will help you sedate your own horse. Yes, I have sedated Peanut, and I ain't talking intramuscular. It was nervewracking, but she was patient and Peanut luckily ignores shots.
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