Pearly Whites

This morning the equine dentist came to work on Jackson and Flash.  We have this done annually.  We had cold, foggy weather with heavy drizzle yesterday and it was forecast to continue this morning.  Fortunately, we woke to clear skies and sweatshirt temperatures.  ...a perfect fall day.

Jackson was up first.  Last year, he quite a bit of work done since it was his first visit with the equine dentist.  At that time, the two main things I took away from the visit were that (1) Jackson is very crooked in his mouth and his body and (2) that he had a pretty severe case of sugar mouth. -- Picture teeth that are brown at the gum line and look yuccy.  This time, Jackson had no sugar mouth at all.  The vet (in California, you must be a vet to practice equine dentistry) said he has noticed that horses on diets with no sugar are experiencing sugar mouth.  He has started tracking it and talking to colleagues and is formulating a theory that it has to do with the water -- maybe flouride -- and not sugar.  Our water treatment was changed a year or two ago so that could explain why Jackson didn't have any sugar mouth this time.  Of course, I've also drastically reduced his carrot intake because of his ulcers/tummy issues.

He also said that while Jackson will never be a straight horse, he is definitely straighter than he was a year ago.  We attributed this to all the dressage work.  Yes! 

Jackson watched the treatment room being set up.  Not too sure...

When the tech led him in, Jackson had to check for hay.  You never know where there might be food.

First, Dr. Kelly did a visual exam and took pictures. 

I love how he shows us everything he finds and explains it all.

Jackson was done pretty quickly.  He got a shot of bute and was put in his stall to rest while the sedative wore off.  Dr. Kelly also recommended giving him GastroGuard to counteract any stress he might have from the dental work.

Next up was Flash.  He didn't have any sugar mouth at all -- and Brett is very liberal with carrots and cookies and sugar cubes.  Hmmmmm.  The water theory sounds plausible.  Flash's teeth were also in good shape with minimal work needed.

Good for another year!