Dental Vet

03/09/2025

A decent amount of calculus on this lower canine. Very satisfying to remove at this horse’s dental appointment to check the underlying tooth and gum is normal and healthy with no signs of EOTRH.

01/09/2025

Some common things we see in young horse’s mouths: wolf teeth, caps, ulceration from sharp points and erupting teeth.

Until horses are about 5 years of age, teeth are being shed or erupting into the mouth about every 6 months, which is why we recommend they get seen quite regularly during this period of time.

29/08/2025

Another bad case of grass seeds packing in the mouth. This patient presented drooling, with stinky breath and intermittently off her feed and upon examination we found the culprit, grass seeds, causing extensive ulceration beneath her tongue. This will likely take a week or two heal up but in the meantime we hope to keep her more comfortable by removing the source of the grass seeds, providing her with some anti-inflammatories and getting her owner to regularly flush out her mouth.

27/08/2025

Double trouble! One of the benefits of coming into the clinic for your dental appointment is if you have 2 horses they can be treated at the same time by our 2 wonderful vets! This saves you a lot of time and also reduces any stress of separation as they are kept together, then sedated and walked into the crush at the same time!

Then you can just float between the 2 treatment rooms, watching the endoscopic videos with the vets showing you what is going on in there and be done in half the time!

If you would like to book a double appointment please just mention it in the email when booking. :)

26/08/2025

Hopefully in the nick of time! We saw this lovely girl in May and noticed quite severe infundibular caries (decay in the middle of the teeth) and recommended restorations ('fillings') to hopefully prevent the teeth from fracturing and save the teeth. It is often difficult to see the full extent of these until you are in there cleaning them out but in the 3 months since we saw her originally a corner of one of the affected teeth had fractured off (red arrow) and the divider between the 2 infundibula (which are the crescent shaped bits in the middle packed with feed material) was also starting to fracture. The divider was incomplete on the cheek side (yellow circle- so the 2 infundibula communicated with each other which they shouldn't!) and with fracture lines starting at the other side (purple circle). There were also other fissure fractures starting on the tooth as well (pink arrow).

One of the most serious consequences of this disease is the teeth splitting in half (and at that stage unfortunately we have no choice but to extract the tooth). With the rotten feed packing into these 'holes', they demineralise and weaken the teeth from the inside, while more and more feed packs up into the holes wedging them apart until eventually the tooth splits. If we can get to them in time we can remove all the rotten feed material, disinfect the cavities, etch, bond and then restore them (place a 'filling' of human dental material to fill the cavity) to prevent the feed from getting back in there and halt the progression of the decay.

Prevention is definitely FAR better (and much cheaper in the long run) than allowing them to progress to a full fracture. Just another example of why a thorough oral exam is so critical, to be able to pick up problems in the early stages and prevent a serious, painful, long term issue in the future.

25/08/2025

We have some very exciting news at Dental Vet! A position will be opening up and we are looking for a veterinary assistant/ veterinary nurse to join our team!
What we are offering:
• An equine veterinary assistant/ nursing job close to the city with no afterhours!
• A friendly work environment with great staff that are passionate about providing clients with the highest standard of care. We also have a focus on research and advancing the body of knowledge on equine dentistry worldwide.
• A new, purpose built clinic close to the city with all the toys
• Casual position, 2 days/ week on Mondays and Fridays, plus possible additional shifts to cover holidays/ sick days etc..
• The position will involve assisting with surgeries, restorations and endodontics etc. so not ‘just’ routine dentals (although administrative tasks and some reception work will also be part of it)!

Skills and experience required:
• Horse experience (non-veterinary). This is essential, you must be confident and competent around horses.
• Vet nursing experience would be beneficial but not required, as we are quite unique, training will be given on the job. 😊
• An interest in equine dentistry (skills/ knowledge not required)
• We would prefer a veterinary nurse but a training nurse or aspiring to do qualifications would also be fine.
• Standard drivers licence

If you would like to delve deeper into the wonderful world of equine dentistry, please email your CV to [email protected]. And if you haven’t already, feel free to also check out our videos on our page to see what we are about and some of the procedures we do- there is a lot more to dentistry than rasping off some sharp points. 😉

If you think this could be you, or you know someone who may be interested please tag them below or share the post!

23/08/2025

Wonderful news that our gastroscopy day was not only able to help horses here in WA but also to prevent the deadly tetanus infection in the very hard working donkeys in the mines in Tanzania. The vets in one of the partner groups there had seen numerous cases earlier this year as the population was completely unvaccinated. It is a horrific, painful, deadly disease so if we can prevent hundreds of donkeys from suffering that, then that is a huge win!

Huge thanks to the team at Dental Vet Clinic in Forrestdale for hosting a special Gastroscopy Fundraiser Day!

Together, they raised $210, helping to fund our partner LAZAWO in Tanzania to deliver tetanus booster vaccinations for 500 working donkeys.

From Forrestdale to Tanzania, this fundraiser shows how compassion can travel across the globe. 🌍🫏❤️ Read more: Link in comments!

23/08/2025

We have had the privilege this week of having 2 wonderful colleagues join us at the clinic to watch some interesting cases and share our passion for equine dentistry!

Dr Aymara (right) has come all the way from Brazil! Dr Kirsten met Dr Aymara while she was presenting at a conference over there and invited her to come if she was ever in Australia! She is doing incredible work pioneering new techniques for minimally invasive sinus surgery which is super exciting. And Dr Paige (left) has come all the way from Heartland's clinic, doing amazing work there!

We love what we do at Dental vet and are very happy to share our passion with anyone that wants to listen! 😝 It has been a fun week and we have Dr Aymara with us next week as well! Say hi if you see them!

❤️

22/08/2025

Thank you to everyone that faced the bad weather to attend our Gastroscopy day in conjunction with Randlab this week. With lots of interesting cases Dr Tory and team were kept busy all day and we are already looking forward to the next one.

We also managed to raise $210 for Animal Aid Abroad. 💜

20/08/2025

This lovely lady had fractured off a corner of her tooth! The fragment has only recently been lost as you can see where the gums have been pushed back (likely as feed was getting forced between the fragment and the tooth, pushing the fragment and gum attachment to the side). The fragment has eventually been shed, leaving a periodontal pocket that was packing with feed.

The good news is that it appears she has been very lucky with the fracture- as much as it affects the protective layer over the pulp cavity, the pulp itself appears to still be well sealed so hopefully the tooth itself will be ok. We will certainly monitor the fracture and secondary periodontal disease but hopefully now that the fragment has been shed, the periodontal disease will settle and as long as the pulp is unaffected, the fractured corner will eventually be replaced as the tooth erupts and the damaged part is worn away.

15/08/2025

Gastroscope Day partnering with Randlab!
Only a few afternoon spots remain for our Gastoscopy day on Tuesday the 19th of August at our clinic in Forrestdale. If you would like to book in for the special price of $150.00 including sedation, please email us at [email protected].
If you have already booked your place for this special event, please ensure you have returned your consent form & booking form to us before the 19th.

14/08/2025

Look at these two cuties who popped over to inspect our crush and visit with Dr Tory at an appointment this week 🐐