16/09/2025
DID YOU KNOW THIS? There’s a critical reason for using sedation which most owners are completely ignorant to. Most owners think sedation is used for compliance, it’s certainly a benefit for many horses, but it’s not THE reason - which is why even the most compliant equines still need sedation.
THE reason? Equines have very poor jaw opening function (massively so compared to humans - they are designed to grind grass all day with their jaw closed) which means having their jaw held wide open by a ratchet for a period of time is really unpleasant and painful for them. Sedation provides instant and strong muscular pain relief (which is why vets use sedation in painful colics) and this will last the duration of the dental exam and treatment.
I use sedation in ALL my dentals regardless of how tolerant or submissive they are, because I will not make any of my patients endure discomfort that I can so readily prevent. It is why all my dentals are £70 inclusive of sedation - I did not want cost to influence them receiving it.
Please note 🫷the benefits of routine dental appointments even if done unsedated will still outweigh not doing dentals at all. I most certainly don’t want to put any owners off providing routine dental care, only to explain the motivation behind why people like myself perform all their dentals with sedation.
Please also note 🫷ACP (sedalin) does not provide the same benefits, it is an anti-anxiety drug not a sedative - I hear it get confused regularly!
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