South West Equine Dentistry

15/02/2026

You will probably have seen a few similar posts detailing the VSA reform. I’ve tried to make a shorter interpretation here.

🦷 Support Your Equine Dental Technician – Your Voice Matters! 🐴

The UK Government is reviewing the Veterinary Surgeons Act reform, aiming at modernising outdated legislation that regulates animal healthcare professionals. This could shape how your Equine Dental Technician (EDT) is recognised and allowed to practise in the future.

As a horse owner, this directly affects you.

EDTs are a vital part of the multidisciplinary veterinary team, working within a clear scope of practice to support animal welfare and public protection. Good, proportionate, risk-based regulation and proper title protection ensure that only qualified, trained professionals provide dental care — giving public confidence and clarity for owners.

Why should you respond?

Because:

• Clear professional titles help you understand who is properly trained
• Recognised qualifications demonstrate competence-based practice
• Consistent standards across the profession protect horses from unsafe or unqualified practice
• Regulation should protect horses without reducing access to care
• Reform should support collaboration, not replacement, and avoid unintended consequences

Even a short response matters. Phrases like:

“As a horse owner, I rely on qualified professional EDTs for my horse’s welfare.”
“Clear titles and title protection help owners make informed choices.”
“Regulation should maintain access while improving safeguards.”

all help ensure EDT perspectives are properly recognised in policy analysis.

🗓 The consultation is open until 25th March 2026 and you can save and return to your responses at any time.

Have your say here:
https://consult.defra.gov.uk/reform-of-the-veterinary-surgeons-act/consultation/

Together, we can help maintain high standards, protect equine welfare, and ensure clear, consistent regulation for the future of equine dentistry.

25/11/2025

‘It’s the 43rd gateway on your right, South Devon… if you get to the squashed badger, you’ve gone too far’.

Gold star for this owner making sure I found the right place 🤩🤩

20/11/2025

In a cup with milk, and a tea bag 😃

As temperatures drop across the UK, if you’re expecting your EDT and you have the ability to provide some hot water, your EDT will be eternally grateful 🥶🙏🏻

Thank you ❄️

11/11/2025

When did your older horse last have a dental examination?

As winter approaches, and there is less grazing available, it’s really important to address the dental health of your geriatric horses.

Older horses are more susceptible to dental issues due to natural changes in their teeth over time, so regular check ups are so important to ensure their comfort and maximum chewing ability.

Common dental issues found in geriatric horses include: Sharp enamel points, senile diastemata, periodontal disease, wear abnormalities, displaced teeth, mobile teeth, absent teeth, infundibular caries and equine odontoclastic tooth resorption and hypercementosis (EOTRH).

Equine teeth naturally wear down over their lifetime due to having hypsondont dentition. As the tooth wears apically, the enamel thickness decreases, resulting in a thinner enamel layer on the chewing (occlusal) surface. Another structural change, which affects the upper teeth, involves the infundibula. Infundibula only extend through 80-90% of the reserve crown; over time these infundibulum will wear out. With thinner enamel and worn infundibula, the teeth become more prone to wear, leading to a faster rate of attrition. This results in smoother teeth surfaces, which can reduce the efficiency of chewing hay.
These age-related changes create irregular wear patterns, contributing to uneven crown height and therefore further compromising chewing effectiveness.

Another physiological age related change is the natural tapering of the teeth which will lead to the development of gaps between the teeth which can trap food and lead to periodontal (gum) disease, mobile teeth and even tooth loss. These gaps are called senile diastemata. In cases of senile diastemata, treatment should be on a case by case basis. Early identification and long term management is really important to ensure the comfort of your horse.

If your older horse does have difficulty chewing hay due to compromised grinding surfaces, dietary changes may need to be considered such as switching to fibre mashes to ensure adequate nutritional intake. It’s important to discuss with your EDT or Vet if this is the case.

Horses are known for their stoic nature, which means they often don’t show obvious signs of discomfort until dental issues are advanced. This highlights the importance of frequent dental care, ideally every six months for older horses, to ensure their comfort and identify any problems early to give them the best chance of prolonging their chewing efficiency.

Visit www.baedt.com to find a qualified equine dental technician near you!

16/10/2025

Now, we’re well into ‘stick stuck in the mouth’ season, but this, I think, has been my worst find this year.

This thorny twig was impaled in the soft tissue underneath the tongue of the most loveliest chap, who had shown his owner nothing other than the odd partly chewed mouthful of hay.

14/10/2025

Horse owners - have you ever wondered what dental problems your horse might be hiding?In this video, we’ll look at the top three dental abnormalities found i...

27/08/2025

Urm…. So it seems I’m not getting notifications for some Facebook messages again, and I’ve just looked and there’s quite a few to get through.

I’m so sorry, and I’ll be working my way through them as quickly as possible.

But please feel free to message by text/whatsapp to 07707894102.

23/08/2025

Now then, without question, I have the best clients in the country, and one of you mega beauties recently reminded me of this cracker….

Ever since I can remember, I’ve kept the hibiscrub I use to clean down all my instruments in a sports bottle -I used to be an avid cyclist in a former life, so I have a lot of these around. But I also keep my vimto (official drink of champions) in a very similar bottle.

Whilst is was a few years ago now, it took about 15yrs before I made the inevitable mistake and mixed up these bottles…. And I did not wash my kit in vimto 🫣

Further info:

1) I made it about 500 yards down the road.
2) Projectile.
3) Heart burn for about 3 days.
4) Still use these bottles.

22/08/2025

Just to answer a few questions I’ve had today:

Yes, we have an oroscope, and will usually take advantage of any opportunity your horse is adequately sedated to perform an oroscopic examination. There is no additional charge for this.

I have, and do, sometimes use the scope in unsedated cases if they’re quiet. Usually, I take video footage and then take stills from the video.

21/08/2025

Had a hot date with this beauty this week. As you can see, she’s got a fair piece missing 😮 this was as a result of a tumour when she was younger.

As a consequence of being dent absente, the opposite crowns need careful management to ensure they don’t over erupt and become an issue (remember, unopposed equid teeth will just carry on erupting, and if not treated, will wear through soft tissue and into bone).

To make this minor procedure as comfortable and stress free as possible, we had a little Dutch courage (for the horse, not me), and we took full advantage of this opportunity to perform an oroscopic examination of the whole mouth. Thankfully, there were no nasties uncovered - but some interesting observations including an improvement to her peripheral caries (a type of decay), and some small dental fissures (which look like cracks).

18/07/2025

https://youtu.be/77x9mVcCYCE?feature=shared

09/06/2025

I’ve been papped! 😂 thank goodness the stable had a sloping floor and big banks, otherwise I wouldn’t have reached this corker 😍

But check out the absolute beauty in the next stable - she stood watching me like that the whole time 😃