tooth abscess stress......

[running in the red]

took my 3 yr. old stallion to the vets today he has a abcess in a upper tooth. this vet wants me to that him Ratama- big vet office mucho $$$$$$$$$$........well. we can't afford this will be $1500. to start must be paided in full befor they will even look at him.we have been on 1/2 pay for 6 months now. and have been hanging on by a thread........well. gave sky blue some banamine and penn. tonight have called another vet waiting for him to call back. what to do next? have been supper stressed over this all day......

 

[JourneysEnd]

Where are you at ?

You need a second opinion.

I have a client who went through that with a warmblood, they had to remove the tooth.

Let me ask her the details and I'll post.

 

[SilverDollar]

I have an Appendix Quarter horse that I rescued and he had a cracked, abcessed upper molar. It was nasty. The vet pulled the tooth and because it had been like that for over a year (per the previous owner) it left a large hole--more like a cave. It had to be flushed out daily in the beginning and he was on antibiotics. It cost far less than $1,500. However, it's been over three years and he still has a hole there, though much smaller. But my vet had to clean it out last week as it had gotten infected and has suggested taking him up to the vet hospital in Santa Ynez to have the sinus cavity drilled, then drained, and the hole would be stitched up to prevent any future infection. The cost would be $1,500-$2,000. I wonder if that's what the hospital is proposing doing? It sounds gruesome and I need to carefully consider this option. My guy is 29 years old and otherwise in good health. But still...that would be a lot to put him through; they'd do the surgery with him standing. Ugh.

I'm with JourneysEnd with the suggestion of a second opinion. Please let us know what you find out. I'm very interested to hear what they propose doing for $1,500. It sounds like more than just an extraction.

(Is the tooth upper or lower?)

 

[JourneysEnd]

This is the response from my cllient with the abscess .

Well...it was close. In Feb 2002, for the removal of Ouachita's upper molar---full-blown surgery, and a week at Colliers afterward...$1299. Hers had to be knocked out through a hole in her face, so that might have added to cost. (Collier said he would try to pull the tooth from inside the mouth for a safe # of minutes, after which it would need to be punched out). The hole in Ouach's face healed with barely a mark...after a year, I had a hard time finding the spot. Collier inserted a blob of acrylic material in the space of the removed tooth (like a false tooth) to keep the adjacent teeth from shifting into the gap, (and possibly loosening), before the hole in the jawbone had a chance to completely granulate in. She was on a run of antibiotics for the week prior to the surgery.

She had a fracture that ran the length of the tooth, and some destruction of the jawbone at the root from the abscess. Collier gave me the tooth afterward. He stuck a needle in the mouth end of the tooth, a piece of hay came out the root end!!! Eeewwww. Her breath smelled bad, and Darren found the tooth was cracked when he came out to float (she leapt in the air when he touched it)

I'd still get a second opinion, but it sounds like they think they won't be able to pull the tooth.

Talk to different equine vets.

 

[garyo]

Please consider a second opinion. We got our driving gelding in November as a two year old. His upper tooth gave his face a boxy look the tooth bump was so swollen. Carl Mitz came out and did all of our horses dental work in January. When he pulled this horses tooth he said the swelling would go down over time. The difference is remarkable. He drained and bled for a couple days. He never appeared to be in any significant discomfort or ran any fever.

 

[running in the red]

today Blue's abcess burst. It's not as gross as I thought it would be. we are keeping it cleaned and he's on pain meds and penn. I have a appt. with another local vet that my girlfriend likes on friday. he wants to keep him penn and pain med til then. he's hopeful that he can go thru the mouth but, if it's got to be do thru the sinus he has to go to ratama. have a call in the carl metz- have not heard back from him yet. this is my Alamos Call Me Sir colt! I wanted to try him in showing this year........well don;t know how much scaring there will be now. and I did not want to keep him as a stallion- was planning on gelding him- I don't like his height and I love Alamos Streaker stallion as my breeding stallion- and one stallion is enough for this short fat old lady to handle!for those that want to know I'm in the SanAntonio texas area.joy