# My horse is not right since the dentist...



## Thompsnozzle (21 December 2014)

Hi all, I know there was a recent post of a very similar nature but hoping to get some advice on the same subject please. My 9yo had his teeth done 9 days ago, he hasn't had them done in a while and needed some sharp bits removing so quite a lot of work done, but he hasn't been right since. He's not eating all his haylage overnight which is out of character, normally there isn't a grain left but his hard feed he is eating fine just slowly and treats he will eat. I'm very worried about him, he seems very quiet and not himself. He also has very loose bowel movement. He is still spitting balls of chewed hay out, he is licking lots and making some strange noises occasionally. I have spoken to the dentist twice and both times agreed to leave it 'a few more days' to see how he gets on. But today we have arranged for him to come back and check him tomorrow because if there isn't a problem with his teeth then I'll be calling the vet out. Has anyone ever had 'too much taken off'? How has it been resolved and how long has it taken for your horse to get back to normal?! Can't stand seeing him like this, he's obviously feeling hungry because he's getting really ratty while I make his dinner as if to say get a wriggle on mum!!!!

Any advice would be gratefully received, many thanks in advance


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## Exploding Chestnuts (21 December 2014)

In the meantime I would be feeding him lots of hi fibre mash, Fast Fibre or something to keep bowels moving, lots of little feeds fed wet if you dont have anything else at the moment. Or chopped grass if he will eat it, you cant leave him hungry.
You can help him with cutting the haylage with scissors if it comes to that!


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## Willow1306 (21 December 2014)

Cranialsacral therapy is recommended after dentistry work - might be worth getting somebody out.


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## Silverfire (21 December 2014)

Same advice    maybe try some pain killer if you have any (unless he can't have it for some reason) and wait and see what dentist says tomorrow. It could be horse has a problem elsewhere in his mouth which is now painful due to him eating differently. Feed soft food in several small feeds so hes not hungry, soaked grass nuts (or any fibre type nuts soaked) and beet pulp are ideal and grass if you have any. 
Let us know how you get on with the dentist tomorrow.


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## hairycob (21 December 2014)

New horse at our yard was "done" with power tools between them buying & delivery (was agreed with seller as they had to wait a few days for a temporary place at a yard this end - long story). He has not been right in his mouth & dropped weight. He was checked by physio & dentist this end. Conclusion was that too much was taken off with power tools.


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## SusieT (21 December 2014)

I would get the vet out o hav e alook as if theres something wrong the dentist might try and cover it up and lead to more prolonged upset for the horse.


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## meesha (21 December 2014)

Certain teeth in horses should not be rasped according to my vet as they have nerves but he has known a couple of dentists get it wrong.  Could he have rasped one of these and horse is in pain?  I would make sure horse is drinking, may help to offer warm water if he is sensitive and maybe some hay replacer so doesn't have to chew as much.  I would be calling vet out rather than dentist again.


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## Silverfire (21 December 2014)

meesha said:



			Certain teeth in horses should not be rasped according to my vet as they have nerves but he has known a couple of dentists get it wrong.  Could he have rasped one of these and horse is in pain?  I would make sure horse is drinking, may help to offer warm water if he is sensitive and maybe some hay replacer so doesn't have to chew as much.  I would be calling vet out rather than dentist again.
		
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All teeth have nerves. Teeth with overgrowths on can be easier to damage than normal teeth.  I would let dentist look again and if he finds no problem and the horse is still not right then I would seek a second opinion from a vet who is also an EDT.
One of my horses fractured one of his teeth one time and he was licking his lips a lot, making funny noises and not eating much hay, luckily vet was able to see him same day it happened.
Hairycob what symptoms was your friends new horse showing?


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## paddy555 (21 December 2014)

as someone who had problems with a highly qualified and thought after dentist it would be the vet for me asap. Make sure you request a vet experienced with horses and teeth and make sure they know they need to bring a gag to get the mouth open. At least with a vet you can sedate the horse at the same time if it became necessary. 
Other than take more off I am not sure what a dentist can do and personally I would like a vet's input before a dentist did that. 
It may help if you cut out all haylage and anything else he has to chew for a couple of days and give very frequent feeds of gruel ie soaked hi fibre nuts with sugar beet etc. That way his mouth will have more chance of healing.


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## soloequestrian (21 December 2014)

My horse went a bit weird after having the dentist a few months ago.  He is in his late teens/early twenties and the dentist said that his teeth are starting to look poor - lots of diastema.  After her visit, he seemed to have difficulty eating his hard feed, and had some brief and mild incidents of choke.  I was really worried, but as you've done I spoke to the dentist and she said to give it a few days.  In the meantime, I fed him much reduced feeds that were very wet.  It took a fair few days, but he is now back to normal.  I do see wads of haylage that I think he has spat out, but there aren't that many, he isn't hungry and is keeping his weight.  I think it was the sudden change in his mouth that affected him, so my plan now is to up the dental visits to x3 per year so the change is much less each time.  He was done with power tools, and I think they work well - much less force needed on what might be less secure teeth in older horses.


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## Gloi (21 December 2014)

I'm feeling sad and worried about my 25yo at the moment. He had his teeth done in the summer and they were fine but the vet said they were getting quite worn. However this week I have noticed he isn't managing his hay as well as normal so I have booked him in to have them looked at at vets after the Xmas holidays. I hope it is something that can be fixed easily. One of his fieldmates, a Shetland the same age started having problems a couple of years ago and he had a lot of work done but eventually last time he went it was going to cost hundreds of pounds and a general anaesthetic to sort him out and my friend had him pts. Having owned him since he was 3 I don't like to think of him getting old.


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## Exploding Chestnuts (21 December 2014)

Gloi said:



			I'm feeling sad and worried about my 25yo at the moment. He had his teeth done in the summer and they were fine but the vet said they were getting quite worn. However this week I have noticed he isn't managing his hay as well as normal so I have booked him in to have them looked at at vets after the Xmas holidays. I hope it is something that can be fixed easily. One of his fieldmates, a Shetland the same age started having problems a couple of years ago and he had a lot of work done but eventually last time he went it was going to cost hundreds of pounds and a general anaesthetic to sort him out and my friend had him pts. Having owned him since he was 3 I don't like to think of him getting old. 

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I think you will be OK if you can feed more mash type feeds, they can still provide a high fibre diet eg Fast Fibre.


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## Gloi (21 December 2014)

Bonkers2 said:



			I think you will be OK if you can feed more mash type feeds, they can still provide a high fibre diet eg Fast Fibre.
		
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He does get some of that now but sadly isn't too keen on it. Fortunately he is quite plump. The other pony's teeth were loose and some had to be removed, I'm hoping mine doesn't have to keep going through that. I'll have to find a soaked feed he actually likes. He's got fussy since he's been on Prascend.


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## Thompsnozzle (22 December 2014)

Thanks all for your replies, will let you know what the dentist says this morning, think I will get a second opinion from either a vet or an alternative dentist before I let them do any further treatment.


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## Thompsnozzle (22 December 2014)

Dentist came this morning and said that can't see anything obvious so suspect must have taken too much off, dentist did watch him eating and said he wasn't eating as he would of liked him to be, dentist has advised possibly remove some off the front under sedation to try and even him out abit. Have also discussed whole thing with my horses vet who has said all seems fairly common and it would possibly be best to let dentist try and rectify it for me first instead of somebody new getting involved and that they were fairly happy considering to prescribe me sedation gel. Does all this seem fairly straight forward to everyone else and am I just worrying myself over something quite straightforward and common?? Just want to see my boy his normal self


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## Silverfire (22 December 2014)

Thompsnozzle said:



			Dentist came this morning and said that can't see anything obvious so suspect must have taken too much off, dentist did watch him eating and said he wasn't eating as he would of liked him to be, dentist has advised possibly remove some off the front under sedation to try and even him out abit. Have also discussed whole thing with my horses vet who has said all seems fairly common and it would possibly be best to let dentist try and rectify it for me first instead of somebody new getting involved and that they were fairly happy considering to prescribe me sedation gel. Does all this seem fairly straight forward to everyone else and am I just worrying myself over something quite straightforward and common?? Just want to see my boy his normal self 

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Remove some off front of where? No its not actually normal for horses to have a problem eating after dental work. If you do think too much has been taken off then really you want to speak to a specialist dental vet.


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## jessieblue (22 December 2014)

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id...CQ#v=onepage&q=damage to horses teeth&f=false

Here is a link to an article about overrasping. You may find it useful. I agree with above post. Taking anymore off from anywhere wouldnt be my plan. Pain relief and supporr while his teeth recover my first port of call. I would seek second opinion also. Try soaked grass nuts instead ff. And soak hay if possible to soften. Hope he feels better soon.


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## SusieT (22 December 2014)

NO. Don't let him rasp more off. Sounds like he's takent too much off already.
Get a vet who has at least an interest in equine dentistry


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## Polonaise (23 December 2014)

Hmm, yes my first thought would be to give the dentist chance to have their say but if in any doubt have a tooth savy vet have a look. Over rasping is VERY common. Check your dentist is appropriately qualified and registered (BAEDT/BEVA), EDT doesn't mean a whole lot I'm afraid. I'm not saying there's not some good raspers who are not qualified and some bad ones who are but at least if they've had to get through the training/exam they should have been pulled up if they were routinely over-rasping. There's once trainee round here who's very popular as they're "thorough", they've stopped more then one horse eating by over doing it. Power tools are great as they put less pressure on the roots but if it takes them more then a few minutes with them I'd be asking questions.


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## Ella19 (24 December 2014)

My mare was done by the yard dentist despite me asking them not too. Low and behold he took too much off, poor mare is sensitive anyway. I was fuming. Long story short, second opinion dentist said leave her for 2 years for tooth regrowth and don't turn her away as she won't cope. I'm so angry but managing my mare is what matters now. She had pain relief for 2 weeks , now isn't throwing her head. I have her in a nathe straight bar. She still has a runny tummy but is coping.


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## ElvisandTilly (25 December 2014)

It may have been my post about the horse having trouble eating and swollen head after dentist? 

My horse had a reaction to something that caused swelling but his mouth was so sore for first week he couldn't eat haylage, bucket feeds he could eat fine. It took a good 2 weeks of steroids, antibiotics and piriton to get his head to stop swelling. He hardly ate and anything he did came out as projectile liquid from his bottom! 

He lost so much weight. He went on protexin to help his gut and also vet put him on Equitop Myoplast (think that's what it's called?!) to help him put muscle back on rather than just fat. He has started to put weight on. His bum has runny days but he can eat again! 

I hope you can get a good vet dentist out for a second opinion. I wouldn't be taking anymore off the teeth until you get a qualified second opinion. It's the hardest thing to see them going through and seeing them losing weight so rapidly, suffering when eating and the terrible runs is awful and it takes time to get them right again. 

You could feed soaked grass pellets and chaff mixed together so like a slop fibre feed to help until you can get something sorted? 

Good luck and hope you can get second opinion soon. Hope all is resolved quickly for your horse.


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## brucea (26 December 2014)

Get the vet out - and get one who has experience of dental work

The dentist may have ruined your horse for a long time - he has to live with that mouth, if it is over rasped the dentist won't admit to it will he? 

Mine get checked yearly, if there is nothing wildly amiss they get nothing done - a horse who has a food forage based diet SHOULD NOT NEED their teeth rasped 3 times a year,

I'm deeply sceptical of horse dentists, we used one for a while, all 3 of mine were uncomfortable and one colicked, I watched in horror once as a "dentist" simply smashed a tooth with a pair of pliers. I had an appointment immediately after - which of course was cancelled with a lot of swearing and abuse from the "dentist" who I told to stick his rasp where it would be least comfortable....

I use the vet now and I take the decision on how much is done - and that is as little as possible. Yes, we have had one extraction done that needed to be done and a diastema dealt with under sedation, but apart from that not a great deal.

Get a good vet with experience of dental work to evaluate and if your horse's mouth has been damaged then make sure the dentist is held to account for payment for all treatment.

In the meantime, mash sounds like a good idea. He may simply have had his gums rasped - get a small torch and go have a look yourself?


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## BlairandAzria (28 December 2014)

Thrompsnozzle where about in the country are you? My partner is a vet with a special interest in equine dentistry, he might be able to recommend you a vet in your area.


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## Silverfire (5 January 2015)

How is your horse doing Thompsnozzle?


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## FfionWinnie (6 January 2015)

Vet couldn't do as much as my new horse needed as if they take off too much then horse will be in agony. Seems like that's what's happened with yours. Last thing I would do is get the same dentist back. Get the vet and get him some painkillers.


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## 12whitehorses (29 July 2015)

I came across this old post while looking for some information about over-floated teeth of which there seems to be very little. Can anyone answer this question please?  
Why would a vet deliberately float smooth the entire row of a horses cheek teeth top and bottom? Smooth as in no enamel on any top or bottom teeth, and no obvious brown stained dentine on the lower teeth surface? Three times, four months apart, leaving the horse in considerable pain and unable to eat on that side of its mouth. Owner was not told this had been done. Horse was already suffering from teeth pain having had many problems. Horse still suffering teeth pain months later.


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## 12whitehorses (2 August 2015)

12whitehorses said:



			I came across this old post while looking for some information about over-floated teeth of which there seems to be very little. Can anyone answer this question please?  
Why would a vet deliberately float smooth the entire row of a horses cheek teeth top and bottom? Smooth as in no enamel on any top or bottom teeth, and no obvious brown stained dentine on the lower teeth surface? Three times, four months apart, leaving the horse in considerable pain and unable to eat on that side of its mouth. Owner was not told this had been done. Horse was already suffering from teeth pain having had many problems. Horse still suffering teeth pain months later.
		
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Forgot to add this photo of a comment found on a page on facebook about overfloating teeth.  (the fb page owner has nothing to do with/does not know above horse)


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## 12whitehorses (14 August 2015)

Shame the OP never came back and updated this post as to how the horse was. Hope if OP went to a vet that OP checked that whatever vet they decided to go to wasn't a friend of the dentist, vet might have decided to cover up for the friend if the vet thought the friend might have made a mistake, doesn't matter if the horse continues to suffer because of it does it.

A vet or dentist can do what they want in our horses mouths and tell us what they want. Its not like you can open the horses mouth after and look yourself, and most horse owners probably wouldn't have a clue what their horses teeth should look like anyway.


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## 12whitehorses (13 February 2016)

12whitehorses said:



			Shame the OP never came back and updated this post as to how the horse was. Hope if OP went to a vet that OP checked that whatever vet they decided to go to wasn't a friend of the dentist, vet might have decided to cover up for the friend if the vet thought the friend might have made a mistake, doesn't matter if the horse continues to suffer because of it does it.

A vet or dentist can do what they want in our horses mouths and tell us what they want. Its not like you can open the horses mouth after and look yourself, and most horse owners probably wouldn't have a clue what their horses teeth should look like anyway.
		
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Wowwe I certainly touched a few nerves with this post!!  Six months later and I still have no idea whats wrong in my horses mouth or what was done to her by the vet and specialist in 2014, or whether it was right or wrong...  Be careful who goes near your horses teeth, in fact don't have your horses teeth looked at unless its really necessary,  and god help you if you are ever in the same position as I am now, every vet lying to you, taking the P... Mind you sending out false CT images with your horses name on is taking it a bit far...  Still I suppose my horse can eat okay now, unlike a few times in the past, too bad she still doesn't eat much on the right, lies with her jaw crossed and head against the wall, and I still don't know if her teeth are okay since they went a whole year with no brown dentine on them to cover and protect the nerves. Four years of tooth problems, thats three quarters of her lifetime. I was hugely disappointed with the CT, very basic report with actually nothing much about her teeth on other than what you can see inside her mouth anyway, nothing about what can be seen in the four images showing deformed lower teeth below the gumline, none of which can be seen on the four lots of xrays she had during 2013/14, so either they are not her CT images or something very odd has suddenly happened to her teeth but no one is going to tell me that! It was a complete waste of money and I wouldn't recommend anyone bother wasting there money on a CT for dental problems.


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## 12whitehorses (13 February 2016)

What do you do if your horse is quidding really bad after a dental visit? Nothing, just get on with it and feed soft feed.
In answer to how long does it take for enamel to regrow its about 6 weeks. And its actually quite normal to remove all the enamel off a tooth or two when reducing overgrowths. Its if they rasp into a nerve that causes a problem.


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## YasandCrystal (13 February 2016)

My 25yr old pony has a significant wave in his teeth and one cracked one my vet said. She took off sharp edges but said she could if necessary use a barb file to take out the wave next time. She warned me that they don't like to do this as often horses will stop eating after this as it feels so different. She warned me to watch for any long fibre hay strands in his dung and when this happens take him off hay altogether and use a substitute to prevent impactiion.


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