Equine dentistry is the practice of

dentistry Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions o ...

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

s, involving the study,

diagnosis Diagnosis is the identification of the nature and cause of a certain phenomenon. Diagnosis is used in many different disciplines, with variations in the use of logic, analytics, and experience, to determine " cause and effect". In systems engin ...

, prevention, and treatment of

diseases A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that ar ...

, disorders and conditions of the

oral cavity In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures. The practice of equine dentistry varies widely by jurisdiction, with procedures being performed by

veterinary physician A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

s (both in general and specialist practice), specialist professionals termed equine dental technicians or equine dentists, and by amateurs, such as horse owners, with varying levels of training. In some jurisdictions, the practice of equine dentistry, or specific elements of equine dentistry, may be restricted only to specialists with specified qualifications or experience, whereas in others it is not controlled.

History

Equine dentistry was practiced as long ago as 600 BCE in China, and has long been important as a method of assessing the age of a horse. This was also practiced in ancient Greece, with many scholars making notes about equine dentistry, including

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

with an account of periodontal disease in horses in his

History of Animals ''History of Animals'' ( grc-gre, Τῶν περὶ τὰ ζῷα ἱστοριῶν, ''Ton peri ta zoia historion'', "Inquiries on Animals"; la, Historia Animalium, "History of Animals") is one of the major texts on biology by the ancient Gr ...

, and in Rome with

Vegetius Publius (or Flavius) Vegetius Renatus, known as Vegetius (), was a writer of the Later Roman Empire (late 4th century). Nothing is known of his life or station beyond what is contained in his two surviving works: ''Epitoma rei militaris'' (also re ...

writing about equine dentistry in his manuscript "The Veterinary Art". In later years, the importance of dentition in assessing the age of horses led to veterinary dentistry being used a method of fraud, with owners and traders altering the teeth of horses to mimic the tooth shapes and characteristics of horses younger than the actual age of the equine. The first veterinary dental school was founded in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, France, in 1762 and created additional knowledge about dentistry in horses and other animals.

Equine dental technicians

Equine dental technicians (also known colloquially as equine dentists, although this is not reflective of their official title) are veterinary paraprofessionals who specialize in routine dental work on horses, especially procedures such as rasping the sharp edges of teeth, also known as 'floating'. Scope of practice may be dictated by statute. For instance, in the United Kingdom, any person, without any qualification may examine and rasp horses' healthy teeth with manual tools, remove deciduous caps (baby teeth) or remove supragingival calculus, whereas only qualified equine dental technicians or vets may remove teeth, rasp fractured teeth and use motorized dental instruments.

Relationship between vets and lay practitioners

There has been a long history of animosity between fully qualified vets and those lay people performing equine dentistry. This has led in some cases to an increase in voluntary and regulatory schemes in the sector. In the UK in the early 1990s, the veterinary profession engaged with lay practitioners to establish a formal system of examination and a register of qualified professionals. Whilst not compulsory, qualified persons were given an extended scope of practice for procedures normally reserved to vets. In the United States, lay practitioners have been subject to legal action to gain injunctions against their practice, with case law in states including Missouri effectively precluding the practice of equine dentistry by persons other than vets.

References

{{Reflist Veterinary dentistry Veterinary professions

History

Equine dental technicians

Relationship between vets and lay practitioners

See also

References