Still to this day you will hear the sentence from horse owners:

“My horse hasn't got any dental problems, it's still eating ok.”

I was one of these people, unfortunately my horse lived to the ripe old age of 31, without ever receiving dental treatment by a qualified horse dentist. I simply wasn't aware of the requirement for dental treatment of my horse. I assumed that my vet would make me aware that dental treatment was neccesary.
As horse owners it is our responsibility to ensure that our horses can lead healthy and pain free lives. I hope you find my website useful and informative and aid you to take care of the well-being of your horses.

Studies show that most horses (ca. 90%) have dental problems. Unfortunately it is the nature of a flight animal not to show, if possible, when they are in pain; in the wild showing pain would make them first course on a predator's menu.

Almost every horse requires more treatment than merely rasping with hand rasps or floats. The mere floating and rounding of the sharp edges of the teeth is rarely sufficient except sometimes on very young horses. With the majority of horses, for example, the front teeth must be shortened, in order to bring them back into balance with the molars and guarantee sufficient contact. This can only be achieved properly with electrical, rotary power tools and specialised hand rasps. When being ground, the tooth has to be water-cooled. This is something, that each of us have experienced on our own dentists appointment, as water-cooling of the teeth has been a requirement in human dentistry since the 1950's. It is logical that abnormalities, often 1-2cm in height, require the use of water-cooled power tools rather than hand rasps alone. What hand rasps are perfect for is to round off the sharp edges of the teeth to a radius of 2-3mm. Using power tools, as opposed to hand rasps, on these sharp edges is detrimental to the balance, as too much material is likely to be removed.

Please click on the images to enlarge

Thank you very much on behalf of your horse for trying to find out more about this complex and important aspect of your horse's health and well being.