Paton and Lee provide a comprehensive equine dental service throughout Essex and Suffolk, from routine dental examinations and assessments, to advanced equine dental surgery and preventative treatment. All of our veterinary surgeons are thoroughly trained and experienced in assessing equine dentition, and carry with them all the equipment required to conduct a thorough dental evaluation at your yard. Most of our clients simply combine their annual vaccinations with an annual dental assessment, therefore minimising their call-out fees.
Our standard price for an equine dental assessment and routine dental prophylaxis (i.e. rasping of sharp enamel points, rostral profiling, reduction of focal dental overgrowths etc) is £75.00 without sedation, or £85.00 if sedation is required (prices correct as of January 2023, including VAT but excluding any visit fee). If a dental assessment is performed and no routine dental treatment is required, the fee is £45 including VAT.
GROUP DISCOUNTS: Where 5 or more horses are being examined on the same yard, no visit fee is charged. Additional discounts are available on request for larger groups of horses – please contact the office for details.
PLEASE NOTE – TO PERFORM A DENTAL ASSESSMENT AT YOUR YARD, WE WILL REQUIRE:
The Equine Dental Assessment:
A thorough dental examination is vital to allow us to detect and treat dental problems before they become serious. At Paton and Lee, all of our Veterinary Surgeons follow a standard operating procedure for our equine dental assessments:
Equine dentistry is an area that has progressed rapidly over the past few years. Many painful dental conditions have been going unrecognised in horses, despite routine dental checks being made every year. Dental pain can cause a range of performance related problems, from weight loss to lethargy, to resisting a contact when ridden or head shaking. For this reason we have invested not just in state-of-the-art portable dental imaging equipment, but also in advanced dental training for our vets. We can therefore provide complete dental care for your horse, from routine checks and rasping at your yard, to more advanced dental treatments including:
The key to providing good dental care for your horse is a thorough dental examination by a suitably qualified person. There is a lot of confusion in the horse world about equine dentistry, but at Paton and Lee we have a clear practice policy that aims to ensure the best possible care is provided to all horses and raise equine dentistry standards in the region.
Paton and Lee are very happy to work with, advise and assist any EDT or unqualified equine ‘dentist’ who has any questions about a specific case or requires help with treating any equine dental pathology. It is in the interests of all horses, ponies and donkeys that we all work together in a professional and ethical manner. We would encourage any qualified EDT or unqualified horse ‘dentist’ to contact us at an early stage if they have any questions about a case or find any dental pathology that requires veterinary treatment.
Please do not believe any horse ‘dentist’ who tells you they do not need to use a full-mouth speculum (gag) to assess your horses teeth properly – that is simply nonsense. The horse’s mouth must be washed out, a full-mouth speculum must be used, and a bright light-source is also vital.
It should not be a great source of pride to be able to rasp a horse’s teeth without using sedation. We will always handle your horse as quietly and calmly as possible to avoid unneccesary stress or alarm, but if sedation is required to perform a thorough and safe dental examination, we will advise giving it. It is cheap, safe, easy to give, quick to work and allows us to do a proper job of examining your horse’s teeth without upsetting your horse or risking injury. If your horse has dental pathology and requires a full dental assessment with a dental mirror or endoscope, sedation will certainly be necessary.
A COMMON MYTH: There is an idea among some horse owners that because you go to a human dentist if you have dental problems yourself, so your horse should only go to a ‘horse dentist’ if it has dental problems, rather than a veterinary surgeon. This is simply wrong. There is no ‘horse dentist’ qualification equivalent to the years of training and studying that a human dentist has. In fact, many people calling themselves ‘horse dentists’ are not even properly qualified as Equine Dental Technicians, and thus have no qualifications whatsoever. According to the BAEDT’s own website, some of these so-called ‘horse dentists’ are “very inexperienced with minimal training, but nevertheless perform very advanced dental procedures, sometimes damaging equine teeth. On some occasions they cause serious, even life-threatening injuries to horses’ jaws, mouths and throats.”
REMEMBER: Always use an Equine Veterinary Surgeon or a qualified Equine Dental Technician for your horse’s teeth.
If you have any questions about equine dentistry or your horse’s teeth, please do not hesitate to call us at any time on 01376 513369.
Further details on the British Association of Equine Dental Technicians, including a list of their members, is available at: http://www.baedt.com
Further details on the Worldwide Association of Equine Dentists, including a list of their members, is available at: http://wwaed.org.uk/
The British Equine Veterinary Association publish a guide to Caring For Your Horse’s Teeth which is available HERE.