Routine

Routine Dental Maintenance

What does a Dental Vet comprehensive oral and dental examination and treatment include?

• A physical examination of your horse
• Auscultation for sand
• A seven-point external examination of the head, to assess for changes associated with dental disease
• A thorough assessment of the oral soft tissues, incisor occlusion and function and detailed examination for pathology
• Comprehensive oral examination of all dental and oral tissues
• A full dental chart will be emailed to you with all pathology recorded, as well as recommendations for at home care if needed
• If the dental is done at the Dental Vet clinic, oral endoscopy is also included if needed with images attached to your dental chart
• Periodontal disease (feed getting trapped between the teeth causing a painful infection) is also treated (please note that if this takes significant time and/ or medication then treatment does incur an additional charge)
• Floating the teeth: sharp points and overgrowths are reduced, and a performance float done if the horse is bitted
• We also examine the mouth closely for minor changes that can lead to significant problems if not accurately diagnosed and treated early (overgrowths opposite gaps where feed is packing between the teeth leading to periodontal disease, deviated teeth etc.). Small changes can often prevent big problems later on
• If needed we have portable digital x-rays so can do x-rays on property and at the clinic (does involve an additional charge)
• We also have a veterinary nurse/ assistant to ensure accurate recording of all pathology and assist where needed (so once the horse is in the crush you can have a cup of tea if you like!)
• Extended appointment times- we allow over an hour per horse for our standard dental so we can properly perform the above and treat periodontal disease if present

Remember dentistry is all that we do, we have been examining horse’s mouths since 2008, so are able to pick up subtle changes early (and also know when small problems are unlikely to be an issue so can better advise and often save you money). We also allow enough time to properly assess and treat issues we find. Being the only dedicated veterinary equine dentistry clinic in Western Australia and the only facility with the equipment, education and experience to be able to perform endodontics (‘root canals’) and restorations (‘fillings’), we are the only horse dentistry business in Perth that can provide you with all the available options.