Dentist Time!

Cherry saw the equine dentist a couple weeks ago, something that should have happened over the summer. I need to be better about that.

Despite the fact that this was Cherry's second time with this particular dentist, it was the first time I'd met her. Last year I had to work and couldn't be there for the appointment. I got the invoice and dutifully sent a check, but didn't get a chance to speak to her. She came highly recommended, and is pretty much the only certified equine dentist in my area (and a vet to boot), so I didn't feel weird about not meeting her the first time.

Her set-up is amazing. She has this giant "dentistry trailer" that she hauls with her. Inside are stocks, equipment, head holder, and a mini office. All that's needed is a place to plug in the extension cord for the power tools. It's pretty freaking sweet, and she takes it far and wide to see clients.

The horse is led up the ramp (well covered in non-slip material) into the trailer and placed in the stocks. Horse is then sedated and the head is supported by this padded ring thing that's suspended from the ceiling. There's plenty of room for the dentist, her assistant, and the horse's owner inside the trailer. She even had a space heater going since it was below freezing outside.

Cherry of course gave absolutely no trouble. She had to think for a minute about getting in the trailer, take a good look and all that, but she loaded up no problem. The IV needle wasn't her favorite thing, but that was over pretty quickly. Thankfully Cherry is a very cheap drunk and it doesn't take much to send her off into la-la land. The flip side to that is she wakes up very quickly and sometimes before you want her to, but things went quickly and she only needed one shot.

The dentist checked Cherry's teeth, explained what she was doing (always love that!) and also told me about aging horse's teeth. When horses get old, the chewing surface begins to degrade and form a cup. The process is called "cupping". Highly technical, I know. When the teeth start cupping it means that there isn't much tooth left to erupt and that regular dentist visits are extra important to keep the teeth healthy for as long as possible. She even had skulls on hand to show what she was talking about, which was super nifty.

Apparently Cherry's teeth are *just* starting to cup on the first and second molars. She's still got plenty of chewing years left, so no need to worry about stocking up on mush ingredients yet. But she does need a yearly float, and it would not be a good idea to let her go more than a year. Point taken.

Cherry didn't need much work. Just some sharp points on her molars and a slight unevenness on the chewing surface. Her incisors were fine (they had needed work last year) and overall it was a pretty basic power float. The prognosis was that she was starting to show signs of age, but her teeth are still very healthy, and she shows every sign of being well taken care of. Awww, that warmed my heart. :)

The dentist and her assistant were thrilled at how well behaved Cherry was. That is one thing I've never had to worry about with Cherry. She is always incredibly well mannered with equine professionals. I don't have to worry about a vet or farrier refusing to work on her, which is really nice.

All in all, a successful dentist visit.