Perth Horse Dentistry & Veterinary Services

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Perth Horse Dentistry & Veterinary Services

Equine Dentistry and Veterinary services in the Greater Perth area and surrounds. Thomas Hamilton B
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Dr. Thomas Hamilton graduated from Murdoch University with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine and Surgery. Born and raised in Perth, Western Australia, he has always had a keen interest in all things horses. Prior to his studies Tom surrounded himself within the Horse Industry, working with Thoroughbred Trainers and as a stable hand/strapper for some of Western Australia’s to

p stables. Since graduating, Tom has embarked on a veterinary career focused highly on Equine Medicine and Surgery with a strong focus on equine dentistry and maintaining performance in equine athletes. As a mobile veterinarian, Tom enjoys the ability to visit his patients at home in their normal environment and surroundings, allowing him to provide top quality services with little stress on his patients or their owner. He also loves that his work allows him to travel all around Perth and the surrounding countryside, allowing him to soak up all of the beauties of his home town. In his spare time, Tom loves outdoor activities, in particular playing lacrosse, fishing, boating, dog training and watching his Thoroughbreds train and race. His two dogs are 'Pippa' the Rottweiler and 'Tully' the Kelpie. His other family pets include two very spoilt cats named 'Milo' and 'Marley'.

03/04/2024

Big day today with 3 surgeries and a complex dental spread across Perth Equine Hospital and Ascot Equine Vets. Awesome team effort. Thanks to all involved.

28/03/2024

What on earth…?? So here is the problem with the equine dental industry in the UK, and also worldwide. Horse owners do not know who is properly qualified and well trained to perform dentistry on their horses.

It costs a fortune to own and look after a horse as anyone who has a horse knows only too well, and dentistry is an extremely important but usually only small part of that overall package of care. It’s only once or twice a year, and that is the opportunity to make sure everything is in order, properly balanced and there are no problems lurking. If treatment is needed, then that treatment (and also the routine treatment) must be performed by someone with appropriate legal status and qualification.

In this case, ‘treatment’ was carried out by an individual without the appropriate training or qualifications: the result? The horse has not been able to eat for months since this ‘remedial’ work was performed - I’ll leave it to those that know to comment on this - if you know, you know. I’ll add some comments later but suffice it to say this is NOT specialist advanced remedial work as it was described. Individuals must not described themselves as ‘occlusal specialists’, ‘remedial specialists’, ‘natural balancing specialist dentists’ etc etc - the word ‘specialist’ is a protected term for RCVS/EBVS veterinary specialists but sadly is used by some to confuse and trick horse owners into thinking they have qualifications and experience way beyond what is actual reality.

We will do another post, and an upcoming video and podcast on how to choose the right person for the right job but meanwhile please check - routine dentistry yes an experienced vet or qualified EDT (BAEDT/WWAED) - advanced work for problems (eg diastemas or gaps between the teeth as in the case in the photo) - this must be undertaken under sedation by an appropriately qualified vet with preferably Advanced Practitioner status or better Specialist qualification - not a dentist under vet supervision, not a dentist, not a balancing specialist, not a farrier, not the tooth man, not the tooth fairy, not the osteopath with a tooth rasp etc etc. The horse is the one that suffers.

24/02/2024

Hi Everyone!
We have had a last minute cancellation for this coming Monday to see Dr Kester. We only have room for one stop Max 2 horses.
Location either Wooroloo/Chidlow area or Bullsbrook
Avoid the long wait times and PM us if you’re keen and fit the brief. This spot will fill up fast so let us know if you’re interested ASAP.
Thanks for your continued support.

20/02/2024

🌟 Meet Our Amazing Team! We are excited to welcome Dr Kester Ryan to the team!🌟

At Perth Horse Dentistry & Veterinary Services, we're proud to have a diverse and talented team working together to bring you the best in Equine Dentistry! Dr Kester joins us in 2024 with a wealth of knowledge having graduated from Murdoch University in 2014 and completing a surgical internship at Hagyard Medical Institute in Lexington, KY USA. Following the internship Dr Kester worked in general practice for a year in Colorado before moving back to Perth in 2017 where she joined the team at Murray Veterinary Services up until 2022 when she welcome her beautiful baby girl to the world.

🌟 Name: Dr Kester Ryan
🔍 Position: Veterinarian
🎉 Fun Fact: My favourite sport to play is Ultimate Frisbee!

19/02/2024

👋 Reintroducing Dr Tom Hamilton! 👋

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I introduced myself and we've got a lot of new followers here. I'm Dr Tom, and I love horses and their teeth. Yep. I'm really passionate about horse dental health!

I graduated vet school in 2012 and after completing my post-graduate studies was awarded membership to the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Science in the field of Veterinary Equine Dentistry in 2016.

I get to work with horses of all ages, breeds and occupations - from beloved lawn mowers to work horses, kids ponies to high performance athletes. And it's not always just horses either, sometimes my days involve anything from donkeys through to elephants!

Setting up a travelling dentistry practice has meant that I can provide quality, veterinary dentistry to horses across Western Australia. In a single year I travel between 40,000 - 50,000km!

I started this page to share knowledge and build awareness in horse owners of the benefits of regular dental care, both in terms of quality of life and performance under saddle. It's also a space for me to share some of the adventures (and laughs) we have along the way.

So thanks for being part of our community and coming along for the ride!

Stay tuned for more introductions to the awesome individuals who make up our team

16/02/2024

What’s hiding in your horses mouth?

This horse was booked in for a routine dental.
We found a compromised 207 having all 3 mesial pulps with non-vital pulp exposures. X-rays were taken at the time of the routine appointment and plans made to remove the tooth.

13/02/2024

Busy morning today of dentals and abdominal radiography to check for sand burdens of the horses at Possum Valley Animal Sanctuary.

Pictured we can see Dr Kester (soon for be formally introduced to you all) and Dr Jonathan who has been visiting us from Broome Cattle Vets

09/02/2024

Do you live in the Wanneroo / Swan Valley region and require an appointment with us?
We have had some appointment slots become available for Monday 12th. Please PM us if you would like to have your horse seen asap. Limited spots available and will fill fast.
Hope everyone is staying cool in this weather.

22/12/2023

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! We hope your presents look a little something like this...

Photo Credit Unknown.

22/12/2023

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas 🎄 🎶

20/12/2023

Christmas Closures - this year we will only be closed on the public holidays during the Christmas season.

We will be closed during January from the 6th to the 20th. If you need to make a booking for the new year, please get in touch with us as soon as you can.

10/11/2023

A great example of why every horse should be a seen at least once a year. The large overgrowth at the back of the mouth (211) has been damaging the lower gums and tongue every time this pony closes his mouth and chews. This has happened over time as the pony was missing an opposing tooth. This pony will be feeling a lot happier after his dental.

Did you know reduction of overgrowths of this nature is considered a veterinary procedure here in WA?

07/09/2023

Where has Dr Tom been this week? 🤔

The week started out bouncing around the Swan Valley and Gidgegannup areas. Then yesterday a duck out to Bruce Rock and today Broome to work alongside the Broome Cattle Vets on a difficult dental case. 🗺️📍

30/08/2023

Busy day today down in Waroona at Ridgeport Thoroughbreds. These youngsters were keen on watching the older horses getting their teeth sorted😎

07/08/2023

Coming off the back of last week, I've had a big day at Ascot Equine Vets consulting on three difficult dental cases. One of these cases was a 10yo Thoroughbred with a fractured 210 (right at the back of the mouth) where the tooth had split in half due to infundibular cemental caries. Because the tooth was so brittle from the condition it crumbled when we started to remove it. We had to use tooth root elevators and an orascope (camera inside the horses mouth) to
help retrieve all of the pieces.

As you can see in the second photo of the xray, there is just a clean alveolus (gap) where the tooth used to be.

So what is infundibular cemental caries?

➡️ The infundibular are the 2 enamel cups in the cheek tooth that are filled with cementum. During tooth formation, air pockets can sometimes occur within those tubes of cementum (hypoplasia). When the tooth wears down over the horse's life, these pockets can become exposed leaving the ideal gap for food to pack in to.

➡️ Food packed into these pockets then leads to caries (decay) around the area, meaning the pockets get bigger and more food packs.

➡️ In more severe cases, two exposed pockets can join to form one large hole (Grade 4). The food then continues to pack into the hole every time the horse chews and eventually causes excessive pressure, whilst the tooth is getting weaker due to decay, and the force from inside the tooth can eventually leads to a fracture, effectively breaking the tooth in half.

01/08/2023

A big week of learning is underway at Tooth Fest with vets from all over world.

28/07/2023

- What do you call a clean Appaloosa? SPOTLESS!
Have a great weekend everyone.

21/07/2023

- when should foals have their first dental checks? We actually break up a foal or young horse's early dental timeline into a few major milestones.

1️⃣ First weeks - within the first few weeks of a foal's life, it's a good idea to have them checked over by a vet to make sure they are healthy and structurally correct. This is a good time to have a gentle look in their mouth for any abnormalities, like parrot mouth, that may impact their ability to eat. For conditions like significant parrot mouth, there are some treatments that can be tried to reduce it, but the earlier this is done the more likely it is to help.

2️⃣ 12 - 18 months old - this is another good time to get your vet dentist to have a look inside their mouth. Now that they are on solid food, we should be checking that there are now issues or malocclusions that may inhibit their chewing.

3️⃣ Pre-breaking in - it's highly recommended to get their teeth checked before they are broken in and bitted for the first time. We want to avoid any discomfort or issues with the bit, and make sure their jaw is able to move freely.

4️⃣ 18 months - 6 years old - during this period of a horse's life, their teeth erupt at a high rate and their mouth can change quite a lot. It's recommended that young horses have their teeth done every 6 MONTHS during this period, to keep an eye on things like caps.

5️⃣ 6 years on - From this stage, most horses should be able to have dental checks every 12 months.

They key is giving them the best start to life, and good dental health supports their chewing and food intake, as well as their acceptance of the bit.

03/07/2023

- You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. So go for it!

30/06/2023

- horses...there's no turning back! Have a great weekend everyone.

27/06/2023

Tooth Tuesday - in our post last week we talked about how horses are hypsodonts, with 'clinical crown' (the erupted tooth) and reserve or non-erupted crown underneath the gum line. But just how much sits below the gum?? This photo shows a fully grown adult tooth.

➡️ A horse's tooth is fully grown (both above and below the gum line including all of the roots) at around 8-10 years of age. On an average 500kg horse, that tooth in its entirety could be between 10-12cm!

If we do some very simple maths, for a 10cm tooth, erupting at 2-3mm per year, that 10-year-old horse could have around 20 years left in their teeth, so their teeth would last until around the age of 30. For domesticated horses, this is correlated with their average lifespan of 30 years. But it's not that simple...

You can see on the photo that the tooth narrows the further you go down the reserve crown. So once the tooth has erupted and these narrow reserves become the clinical crown there will be gaps between the teeth where feed can get stuck, and it predisposes the horse to periodontal disease. Also, because there is less reserve crown to anchor them in place, they can start to get wobbly and uncomfortable.

It's important to be aware of this as our horses age, because while it may seem that they have plenty of feed in front of them, they might not be able to get the nutrients they need out of it because of issues in the mouth.

Make sure you keep an eye on your oldie's teeth, even if they are retired, they still need regular dental check exams so we can keep an eye out for issues.

22/06/2023

Fact Friday - Horses are HYPSODONTS. But what does this really mean?
Hypsodont is a dental classification where an animal has 'high-crowned teeth' with enamel that extends past the gum line, which provides extra material for the wear and tear that comes with eating a fibrous diet.

Horses have an erupted crown with a non-erupted reserve beneath the gum line. Their teeth erupt continuously and the occlusal surfaces wear down from the grinding of feedstuffs.

This wear is not always even, which is why regular dentals are so important, and we can catch any malocclusions early.

18/06/2023

REMINDER: How often do you check your horse's poo? And what can it tell you about their teeth? 🦷

It may be coming out the opposite end, but how their poo looks can be a sign of what's happening in your horse's mouth. When we take a closer look at their manure (you might need to break it up a bit) you should be able to see grass or hay fibres. The length of these fibres tells us how efficiently your horse is chewing their forage.

➡ The average length of these fibres should be UNDER 10mm.

If the average length gets any longer than this it can be a sign that there are problems in the mouth and you should seek advice from your vet dentist. Why? Poor chewing can cause a lot of issues, including poor feed utilisation or even an increased colic risk.

15/06/2023

A little Friday Funny for you - have a great weekend everyone!

13/06/2023

TOOTH TUESDAY - Canines are the short, standalone teeth that are found in the space between the incisors and cheek teeth in geldings and stallions (and a handful of mares). The canines erupt between 4-8 years of age, but they can actually sit below the gum for months before fully erupting. If you run your finger along the gum, you might even feel the tooth under there. Like teething in babies, the surrounding gum can get tender before eruption and when you go to put the bridle on, you might unknowingly knock the gum or even the tooth underneath it and the horse can become resistant to bridling.

The horse's mouth is a sensitive place, so putting their bridle on and getting the bit into their mouth needs to be a careful process. The canines are a prime candidate for bit knocking when bridling because of where they sit.

Have a look next time you're with your horse. Have they got canines? Does the bit sit with enough space that it doesn't knock them?

31/05/2023

See these tracks on this horse's tongue? They're not from sharp teeth or chewing sharp objects...they're from BOT FLY LARVAE. We saw this horse a few weeks ago at a routine checkup, and you can see the damage done to the tongue.

Did you know that the bot larvae can live in the mouth for around 28 days, burrowing into the tongue, gums or lining?

They can cause a lot of damage when they are there but imagine how uncomfortable it would be to have maggots crawling around in the mouth. Once there they move into the stomach and bury into the mucous lining. It's important to check for eggs regularly and remove any eggs you find on your horse promptly.

28/05/2023

- "Every morning you have two choices: continue to sleep with your dreams or wake up and chase them." - Carmelo Anthony

25/05/2023

A colourful customer that I met on the road recently, adding a little bit of gold to my day 🥇

22/05/2023

CASE FILES - Tooth Root Infection. This was found on a routine dental examination on an otherwise healthy horse with no signs of issues and actively ridden and competing. On close inspection we found that there was a large drainage tract draining the root infection back into the mouth. The tooth had exposed pulp canals and was compromised so needed to be removed.

In the images you can see the large drainage tract with the orange marker that is pulled to the side. This had been running up the side of the tooth where you can see the white 'line'. In the photo of the mouth, you can see where we've popped the tooth down ready to remove. This was done using sedation and pain relief and nerve blocks.

This is a good reminder that even though horses may not be presenting with issues, a regular and thorough dental examination is vital for maintaining good health.

Address

PO Box 4011
Perth, WA
6056

Telephone

0432885540

Website

http://www.perthhorsedentistry.com.au/

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Videos

What a beautiful spring day! #perthrainydays #spring #mobilevets #workingintherain #horsedentistry

Non vital pulp exposure with draining tract. #soretooth #openpulpcavity #equinedentist #toothextractionday #horsevet

Kalgoorlie Dental Trip September 2018

Perth Horse Dentistry & Veterinary Services

This video depicts a large diastamata (gap) between the teeth, which is an area where food accumulates and ferments leading to a high bacterial load in this region. Periodontal disease, leads to pain, potentially a compromised tooth and possible sinus infection. Also not the buccal (cheek) ulceration.