17th December 2006
Modern Horse Dentistry
Being “on the bit” is desirable for most thoroughbred racehorses. This translates to constant bit pressure, constant tongue movement, and unfortunately very often constant discomfort and agitation.
A racehorse’s mouth maybe extremely painful without affecting its racing ability, very often dental care is neglected.
Even with the tools available today, comprehensive horse dentistry is complicated and difficult. It is easy therefore to understand why in past years so many horsemen and their veterinary surgeons had little confidence in equine dentistry.
However, developments in recent years of superior drugs for sedation, pain relief and chemical restraint have made very useful progress in the horse dentistry industry.
Experienced veterinary surgeons now say that they have seen routine dentistry progress from an almost worthless procedure to one that is practical, safe and extremely beneficial to almost every horse.