Questions on Floating and Sedation

[Tremor]

Question #1:

For the past year we've been working on floating our minis teeth; especially our older mares who hadn't had their teeth floated in seven years (if at all). Not mention they had severe underbites. They won't be perfect but we are getting them to look pretty good (compared to before.)

We have a five year old gelding (dwarf) who I had her check. I want his teeth done SUPER well because of his age and his condition. We were unable to because my vet couldn't fit her finger in his mouth. It was too tight which meant that the float wouldn't fit.

Has anybody had this happen before? Would a miniature horse sized float work?

I am VERY nervous about this. I have four more youngsters (yearling to two year olds) who need floated as well in the future and I will bet $20 that two of them will have tight mouths as well.

I don't want this situation getting out of hand like my adult mares.

Question #2:

One of my mares does not take a sedative well at all. She is roughly 30'' tall. To sedate her to be able to float her teeth we had to give her the equivalent to that of an average sized horse.

I fully trust my vet. She has worked at the racetrack (Prairie Meadows) and at ISU at the USDA.

We asked her if not taking a sedative was genetic because this mare's son (the five year old mentioned above) required more than the suggested dosage to knock him out to geld him.

What's even worse is I have another foal out of her (a two year old...) who will of course take more than the alotted dosage.

Has anybody had this happen to them?

Everybody is doing well, btw. We got vaccinations done, found out my yearling had an abscess on her chin that had drained, (I did call her a couple weeks before hand about it but we thought it was because of her teeth.) and floated teeth. Well worth the $200+ we spent.

^^^I don't know why it won't un-underline the words. I'm sorry!

 

[chandab]

Do you absolutely have to sedate the mare to float her teeth? some tolerate floating without sedation, I have a few that do just fine (hand floats only), might be worth a try, if you think she'd be tolerant.

If the vet can't even get her finger in the horses mouth, I don't know if it would matter much if you tried mini floats. However, that said, with sedation, he might relax enough that there would be a bit more room to work. Hard to get equipment in there if their clenching their jaw. Just a thought.

 

[Tremor]

Do you absolutely have to sedate the mare to float her teeth? some tolerate floating without sedation, I have a few that do just fine (hand floats only), might be worth a try, if you think she'd be tolerant.

If the vet can't even get her finger in the horses mouth, I don't know if it would matter much if you tried mini floats. However, that said, with sedation, he might relax enough that there would be a bit more room to work. Hard to get equipment in there if their clenching their jaw. Just a thought.

My vet is against floating teeth without sedation. That...and the fact that my mare WHILE sedated attempted to bite the float and the demerol tool (for her overgrown front teeth). So I think that is out of the question.

I may have to ask my vet on the latter.

 

[chandab]

My vet is against floating teeth without sedation. That...and the fact that my mare WHILE sedated attempted to bite the float and the demerol tool (for her overgrown front teeth). So I think that is out of the question.

I may have to ask my vet on the latter.

If your vet is using the dremel (power float), then its my understanding that sedation is then needed. My equine dentist uses hand floats only, no power equipment.

As far as biting the equipment goes, about half of my horses will bite on the tools while being worked on, sedated or not; my equine dentist isn't worried about it and just goes about her work (they usually let go without incident).

 

[Marsha Cassada]

The equine dentist I am using now is able to do the miniature horses with very small mouths. She told us of a couple of clients whose horses were unable to be done by the vet, but she was able to do them. They were dwarves. I know she travels; she might go to your state if she could arrange enough clients.

Can you work with your vet to get a special sedation that works on your horses? I was present at an attempted gelding, when the miniatiure horse would not go down with normal sedation. The vet had to reschedule and order a special "cocktail" from the equine hospital for him.

 

[mdegner]

My husband does equine dental work and he has separate tools for the minis and the large horses. He has a mini size and large horse speculum and does not use the power float tool as he thinks you have less control with the power float. He only sedates if it necessary and the owner wants sedation. Tremor, I see you are in Iowa and we are in southern central MN. He has done teeth in your area and would be happy to talk with you. If you want to PM or email me ([email protected]), I can give you references from people in your area and take it from there. He spent two weeks at the Equine Gnathological Institute in Idaho for his training and has done many of the mini people and horse in the Sioux Falls, etc area.