|
|
Veteran
Posts: 220
| I had a vet tell me, he heard that floating a horses teeth is actually worse for them just leaving them alone? Has anyone else ever heard this and also do you float yours? | |
| | |
 Good Grief!
Posts: 6343
  
Location: Cap'n Joan Rotgut.....alberta | give me his number, i will find him a dead dog to look at...........but serioulsy i think you need a new vet or there was a miscommunication.......
m | |
| | |
Elite Veteran
Posts: 1074
| He must be an old timer. The new philosophy says float at least once a year, with twice a year being best. | |
| | |
Veteran
Posts: 220
| That is what I thought. Thanks for the input! | |
| | |
  More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
Location: Riding Crackhead. | I live 120 miles from my vet so its a major project for me to get everyone down there for teeth. One of my mares was over due this past fall. He opened her mouth and he knows that I always like to take his miner light and feel around before he starts. I couldn't believe how tore up her cheeks were and the sharp spots she had. Poor baby. She wasn't that over due either - like maybe we were at a year. I can't imagine going forever but I know people that do it. | |
| | |
 Born not Made
Posts: 2931
Location: North Dakota | Your vet HEARD this idea?
I'm sorry, but I'd be looking for a new vet if mine just passed on heresay and didn't know the answer himself. JMO
Right now, my horses get checked (and floated) once per year. If my vet ever tells me one of them needs it more often (like every 6 months) I will do it. | |
| | |
Veteran
Posts: 220
| The worse part about it is, I am taking my mare for the first time this next Monday and I am going to be scared what they are going to tell me. I was going by what the vet told me and I am having some gate issues right now and so I am looking at all options. I inquired another vet and they said that it could be her teeth. I am going to kick myself over and over if she is in really really bad shape which will explain alot of things. I have had her most of her life and never had her teeth done because I was using the same vet. I feel like such an ignorant idiot right now who should have known better....  | |
| | |
| I bought a new horse, 17 year old, this past fall. I was taking my original horse to a vet, so brought the new guy along. I had my 14 year olds teeth done. As we talked about teeth, my vet said that she had to relearn about how to do teeth. She said a lot of equine dentist AND vets HAVE been causing damage to teeth by improperly floating them. She said the technique she calls "Pool balling" is when the teeth are floated in such a wall to resemble pool balls. Rounded all the way around. The problem they have found is that taking this much enamel actually can KILL the ROOT! Once you kill the root, the tooth dies. When it dies, eventually the tooth FALLS OUT! This can take years, but the damage was done way back when.
So, she finishes my horse, and I ask her to see if my new guy needs his done. Right away, as she is looking at his teeth, she says, "NOPE". We won't touch his. This is EXACTLY what I told you about. His teeth were over floated. They have been "pool balled". She asked if he was sensitive when he ate. Yes, I did notice that he ate very gingerly. She said taking off that much enamel obviously can cause over sensitivity too. Think of when you brush too hard. Well, when we got home, I watched my original horse, who just had his teeth done, eat. He chowed down like his usual piggy self. My new guy, picked slowly as though his teeth were sore.
I hope my new guy gets enough new growth to compensate for the over zealous floating that was done. I also wanted to add that my vet said she use to be over zealous w/the floating too. Many vets/equine dentistswere trained that way. Well, now they know better, according to her. She said she learned this at a seminar a while back. I am passing this on as I hate to have anyone hurt their horses. Oh, and final word. My new horse had had his teeth done by an "Equine Dentist" up by OK City. I do NOT know his name. The gal I bought him from said his teeth were done recently by a very popular tooth man. So, there ya have it.
The vet who did my teeth was Trish Tersteeg DVM, Mansfield, TX 817-301-5090. I originally went to her to do allergy testing on my horse. I highly recommend her.
Edited by bingo 2014-02-04 4:02 PM
| |
| | |
 Expert
Posts: 2457
| Firemanswife - 2014-02-04 2:06 PM
The worse part about it is, I am taking my mare for the first time this next Monday and I am going to be scared what they are going to tell me. I was going by what the vet told me and I am having some gate issues right now and so I am looking at all options. I inquired another vet and they said that it could be her teeth. I am going to kick myself over and over if she is in really really bad shape which will explain alot of things. I have had her most of her life and never had her teeth done because I was using the same vet. I feel like such an ignorant idiot right now who should have known better....
oh HUGS!! Don't worry yourself over this ... you are being proactive and DOING something about it!! 
Also to the OP - Yearly is good advice even if it is just a quick check, at least you are preventing major things like impacted teeth that may need to be pulled. | |
| | |
More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
Location: Riding Crackhead. | Firemanswife - 2014-02-04 2:06 PM The worse part about it is, I am taking my mare for the first time this next Monday and I am going to be scared what they are going to tell me. I was going by what the vet told me and I am having some gate issues right now and so I am looking at all options. I inquired another vet and they said that it could be her teeth. I am going to kick myself over and over if she is in really really bad shape which will explain alot of things. I have had her most of her life and never had her teeth done because I was using the same vet. I feel like such an ignorant idiot right now who should have known better....
You're not planning on having the idiot vet float your horses teeth are you? I hope you got someone with some experience. | |
| | |
 Special Somebody
Posts: 3951
Location: Finally horseback again.... |  
I hesitate to even reply on these sometimes but here goes.
Anyone who says a horse "never" needs dental work is a complete moron... vet or not.
From babies to old horses, they need maintenance. If your horse is a 100% grazing animal all the time, then yes, your issues are way less and they have less problems. they can and will get sharp buccal and lingual points in a matter of months, they can fracture molars for no apparent reason and any number of weird things happen in their mouths. For a performance horse that you are using, proper dental care just makes your life and the horses easier and more productive.
And by proper, I mean balancing the molar tables to the correct angle, balancing your incisors to the correct angles and making sure they maintain correct occlussion on all surfaces and everything is balanced with their TMJ joint.
As far as balling the teeth as someone stated, I have seen alot of that as well as taking all the angle off of the molar table surface. Your horses molar tables should be about an 18 degree angle. Lots of times you see vets and dental techs level them completely flat making the horse not be able to touch his teeth together at all when they chew. Fortunately, both of these can usually be corrected and within about 6 months with correct work and growth.
To the OP, please do yourself a favor and ask questions before you let someone work on your horse. Get referrals!!! Ask them to go over everything in that horses mouth, let you see and feel what they are talking about and discuss what can be done to help your horse. Any good dental tech should be able to feel a horses mouth and tell you what that horse is doing when you ride him by the way his teeth are.
There are a ton of people who work on teeth, but there are only a few that really understand it.
| |
| | |
 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | bingo - 2014-02-04 3:59 PM I bought a new horse, 17 year old, this past fall. I was taking my original horse to a vet, so brought the new guy along. I had my 14 year olds teeth done. As we talked about teeth, my vet said that she had to relearn about how to do teeth. She said a lot of equine dentist AND vets HAVE been causing damage to teeth by improperly floating them. She said the technique she calls "Pool balling" is when the teeth are floated in such a wall to resemble pool balls. Rounded all the way around. The problem they have found is that taking this much enamel actually can KILL the ROOT! Once you kill the root, the tooth dies. When it dies, eventually the tooth FALLS OUT! This can take years, but the damage was done way back when. So, she finishes my horse, and I ask her to see if my new guy needs his done. Right away, as she is looking at his teeth, she says, "NOPE". We won't touch his. This is EXACTLY what I told you about. His teeth were over floated. They have been "pool balled". She asked if he was sensitive when he ate. Yes, I did notice that he ate very gingerly. She said taking off that much enamel obviously can cause over sensitivity too. Think of when you brush too hard. Well, when we got home, I watched my original horse, who just had his teeth done, eat. He chowed down like his usual piggy self. My new guy, picked slowly as though his teeth were sore. I hope my new guy gets enough new growth to compensate for the over zealous floating that was done. I also wanted to add that my vet said she use to be over zealous w/the floating too. Many vets/equine dentistswere trained that way. Well, now they know better, according to her. She said she learned this at a seminar a while back. I am passing this on as I hate to have anyone hurt their horses. Oh, and final word. My new horse had had his teeth done by an "Equine Dentist" up by OK City. I do NOT know his name. The gal I bought him from said his teeth were done recently by a very popular tooth man. So, there ya have it. The vet who did my teeth was Trish Tersteeg DVM, Mansfield, TX 817-301-5090. I originally went to her to do allergy testing on my horse. I highly recommend her.
And the over floating is what I have said over and over again and we still see it. Makes us want to puke. We have yet to see the full repercussion from over floating teeth but as some people are waking up you will be hearing more about horses that have very screwed up mouths. We saw 3 horses last week that couldn't eat and was just balling up their food and they were done by a well known hot shot dentists to the cost of over $300.00 each. | |
| | |
More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
Location: Riding Crackhead. | Nevertooold - 2014-02-04 5:53 PM bingo - 2014-02-04 3:59 PM I bought a new horse, 17 year old, this past fall. I was taking my original horse to a vet, so brought the new guy along. I had my 14 year olds teeth done. As we talked about teeth, my vet said that she had to relearn about how to do teeth. She said a lot of equine dentist AND vets HAVE been causing damage to teeth by improperly floating them. She said the technique she calls "Pool balling" is when the teeth are floated in such a wall to resemble pool balls. Rounded all the way around. The problem they have found is that taking this much enamel actually can KILL the ROOT! Once you kill the root, the tooth dies. When it dies, eventually the tooth FALLS OUT! This can take years, but the damage was done way back when. So, she finishes my horse, and I ask her to see if my new guy needs his done. Right away, as she is looking at his teeth, she says, "NOPE". We won't touch his. This is EXACTLY what I told you about. His teeth were over floated. They have been "pool balled". She asked if he was sensitive when he ate. Yes, I did notice that he ate very gingerly. She said taking off that much enamel obviously can cause over sensitivity too. Think of when you brush too hard. Well, when we got home, I watched my original horse, who just had his teeth done, eat. He chowed down like his usual piggy self. My new guy, picked slowly as though his teeth were sore. I hope my new guy gets enough new growth to compensate for the over zealous floating that was done. I also wanted to add that my vet said she use to be over zealous w/the floating too. Many vets/equine dentistswere trained that way. Well, now they know better, according to her. She said she learned this at a seminar a while back. I am passing this on as I hate to have anyone hurt their horses. Oh, and final word. My new horse had had his teeth done by an "Equine Dentist" up by OK City. I do NOT know his name. The gal I bought him from said his teeth were done recently by a very popular tooth man. So, there ya have it. The vet who did my teeth was Trish Tersteeg DVM, Mansfield, TX 817-301-5090. I originally went to her to do allergy testing on my horse. I highly recommend her. And the over floating is what I have said over and over again and we still see it. Makes us want to puke. We have yet to see the full repercussion from over floating teeth but as some people are waking up you will be hearing more about horses that have very screwed up mouths. We saw 3 horses last week that couldn't eat and was just balling up their food and they were done by a well known hot shot dentists to the cost of over $300.00 each.
One of my horses was done by a very well known equine dentist in 06 while at a clinic. His teeth still show signs of that dentist and he loses lots of grain. I go to my vet now, he doesn't get carried away with his tools or my bill. | |
| | |
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 544
| Nevertooold - 2014-02-04 5:53 PM
bingo - 2014-02-04 3:59 PM I bought a new horse, 17 year old, this past fall. I was taking my original horse to a vet, so brought the new guy along. I had my 14 year olds teeth done. As we talked about teeth, my vet said that she had to relearn about how to do teeth. She said a lot of equine dentist AND vets HAVE been causing damage to teeth by improperly floating them. She said the technique she calls "Pool balling" is when the teeth are floated in such a wall to resemble pool balls. Rounded all the way around. The problem they have found is that taking this much enamel actually can KILL the ROOT! Once you kill the root, the tooth dies. When it dies, eventually the tooth FALLS OUT! This can take years, but the damage was done way back when. So, she finishes my horse, and I ask her to see if my new guy needs his done. Right away, as she is looking at his teeth, she says, "NOPE". We won't touch his. This is EXACTLY what I told you about. His teeth were over floated. They have been "pool balled". She asked if he was sensitive when he ate. Yes, I did notice that he ate very gingerly. She said taking off that much enamel obviously can cause over sensitivity too. Think of when you brush too hard. Well, when we got home, I watched my original horse, who just had his teeth done, eat. He chowed down like his usual piggy self. My new guy, picked slowly as though his teeth were sore. I hope my new guy gets enough new growth to compensate for the over zealous floating that was done. I also wanted to add that my vet said she use to be over zealous w/the floating too. Many vets/equine dentistswere trained that way. Well, now they know better, according to her. She said she learned this at a seminar a while back. I am passing this on as I hate to have anyone hurt their horses. Oh, and final word. My new horse had had his teeth done by an "Equine Dentist" up by OK City. I do NOT know his name. The gal I bought him from said his teeth were done recently by a very popular tooth man. So, there ya have it. The vet who did my teeth was Trish Tersteeg DVM, Mansfield, TX 817-301-5090. I originally went to her to do allergy testing on my horse. I highly recommend her.
And the over floating is what I have said over and over again and we still see it. Makes us want to puke. We have yet to see the full repercussion from over floating teeth but as some people are waking up you will be hearing more about horses that have very screwed up mouths. We saw 3 horses last week that couldn't eat and was just balling up their food and they were done by a well known hot shot dentists to the cost of over $300.00 each.
NT. After talking to you a few years ago about our dental screw up I sure wish you were closer to me!!! | |
| | |
 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 372
Location: Missouri | I'm so glad I clicked on this thread, lots of new important information learned. Does anyone know if there is a good place to get referrals for good equine dentists, chiropractors, vets, etc.? I've had no luck finding the perfect facility here in Missouri | |
| | |
 Expert
Posts: 1612
Location: Cocoa, Florida | I didn't read everything but I actually had my horses teeth done today and my vet was explaining to me that the reason why most of the wild horses do well without a float is because they grind their teeth down by chewing bark, wood and hard objects. He also said that over time evolution is changing the way horses teeth come in too, my filly in only had one little wolf tooth pulled today!!
On another note, mine get their teeth done once a year and the babies every 6 month. | |
| | |
Industrial Srength Barrel Racer
Posts: 7264
| I still can't get over a vet TELLING you this! What in THE world? | |
| | |
 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 422
Location: Fort Bragg North Carolina | I think it depends. i dont float unless i see a problem. i have one mare that i didnt float until she was 14 and all she had was a wolf tooth and needed a slight float. if your horses are on pasture it can make a difference. also after i float it seems that i have to do a bit change so i always dread having to float. my vet tells me its not necessary like people think he checks them every year at coggins time. everyone has opinions!!! | |
| |
| |
Folks on-line