30/11/2025
This is a vulnerable post and I hope it comes across the way I intend it to; a delicate warning and encouragement to educate your friends.
I saw a case on Friday that broke my heart and I told my husband about it through tears once home.
I was a second opinion on a school horse who has been kindly teaching beginner riders. She was of satisfactory weight and showed no outward signs of pain in her work.
Her owner had noticed a wound on her jaw that was discharging pus earlier in the year. She did the right thing and took her for a dental with someone who marketed themselves as knowledgeable in equine dental care. A ‘dental’ was performed but nothing else. On Friday during the exam with me she had a warm swollen jaw and was too painful to exam without nerve blocks. X-rays showed this poor mare had a fractured off tooth with the abscessed root of the tooth still in the jaw but desperately trying to exit the body. She also had 20mm overgrowths of teeth cutting the back of her mouth; these overgrowths take years to form. Her owner thought she was getting the care her mare needed but unfortunately her mare has suffered for months since the initial dental.
This is a reminder that there is a big difference between equine dental providers in experience, tools, legalities (eg non vets can not sedate, diagnose or remove teeth with anything but their fingers), registration/insurance and regulatory bodies.
I know I’m preaching to the converted with my followers but if you have any friends who may not be getting the best dental care for their horse please encourage them to do so. It absolutely does not have the be with me but I strongly encourage everyone to use an appropriately trained dental vet. This is a vet who has done extensive training after graduation focused solely on equine dental medicine and surgery; not just a vet who offers equine dentals.
These are a list of some I recommend within a few hours
- Dr Emma from Mainprize Veterinary Services (Gundagai)
- Dr Claire at CSU (Wagga)
- Dr Denis GVEH (Shepparton)
- Dr Allie Brindabella Equine Mobile Veterinary Servicesices (Yass)
- Dr Zoe Murray Valley Equine Dental Vet
- Dr Grace & Dr Angus Western Plains Veterinary Servicevice (Parkes / Narromine)
Photo below isn’t of the mare but of my first horse. ‘Flame’ is the main reason why I started and continue to do so much dental training. I was like the owner above, thinking I was doing the right thing but ‘Flame’ also had fractured teeth that were missed until I switched to a dental vet. Learn from our mistak
