Skooter is a 3 year old home-bred American Paint x Traditional Cob who's being trained for both western and what you might call "traditional" showing. If you click on the picture to the right you can read her blog on the Western Equestrian Society in Devon website. As you'd expect with her breeding she's very easy to handle and poses no problems for vets, equine dentists or anyone else who comes anywhere near her. She's uncomplicated in every sense - but before Bill's latest visit, when you opened her mouth it wasn't pretty!
This picture shows the obvious problem with her incisors, both upper and lower. Basically what's happened is that her milk teeth have not been pushed out by her adult teeth. Bill tackled this area of Skooter's mouth first.
Here you see Bill removing one of the two lower incisors that were retained. He actually removed both, and Skooter didn't react at all. It was over in a matter of seconds (remember that these milk teeth have very shallow roots). As you can see from the picture there was no need for a gag as these teeth were very easy for Bill to reach. Once they were removed it left space in the mouth for the adult teeth to grow into the correct position.
Having addressed the lower retained incisors, Bill turned his attention to the upper jaw. The picture to the left illustrates the problem, but again Bill removed these very easily and with no fuss from Skooter. Bill explained that if these hadn't been removed they could have caused a problem because of food getting caught and rotting, causing infections. When the teeth were removed they smelled quite bad as a result of exactly that!
If you check out this picture you can see how the removal of the milk teeth has, once again, created a space for the adult teeth to grow into.
At this stage Bill had removed four teeth and - despite the fact that there had been a bit of blood - Skooter showed no signs of discomfort or distress. The next task was to address the three molar caps further back in Skooter's mouth. Bill needed to use the gag for this because of the position of the teeth but, once again, Skooter remained completely calm. Within a matter of minutes three caps were removed and the treatment session was over.
It's fair to say that after the removal of her seven teeth Skooter's mouth looked a bit unsightly. There was certainly a bit of a gap in front - check out the picture to the right and you'll see it for yourself. This will mean, however, that her adult teeth now have room to grow into the correct alignment.
As you can see from this picture Skooter coped very well with the treatment and was able to eat a carrot with no difficulty!
Here are the seven teeth removed on the day, four incisors and three molar caps. Who knows what the tooth-fairy would pay for this lot?
As you can see from the picture to the left, within a week there was a marked improvement in the alignment of her teeth. Bill will continue her treatment within a few weeks. At the next visit he'll address the remaining caps and check that everything's progressing as it should. We'll update you on her progress after her next treatment.
This picture shows the obvious problem with her incisors, both upper and lower. Basically what's happened is that her milk teeth have not been pushed out by her adult teeth. Bill tackled this area of Skooter's mouth first. 
Here you see Bill removing one of the two lower incisors that were retained. He actually removed both, and Skooter didn't react at all. It was over in a matter of seconds (remember that these milk teeth have very shallow roots). As you can see from the picture there was no need for a gag as these teeth were very easy for Bill to reach. Once they were removed it left space in the mouth for the adult teeth to grow into the correct position.
Having addressed the lower retained incisors, Bill turned his attention to the upper jaw. The picture to the left illustrates the problem, but again Bill removed these very easily and with no fuss from Skooter. Bill explained that if these hadn't been removed they could have caused a problem because of food getting caught and rotting, causing infections. When the teeth were removed they smelled quite bad as a result of exactly that!
If you check out this picture you can see how the removal of the milk teeth has, once again, created a space for the adult teeth to grow into.
At this stage Bill had removed four teeth and - despite the fact that there had been a bit of blood - Skooter showed no signs of discomfort or distress. The next task was to address the three molar caps further back in Skooter's mouth. Bill needed to use the gag for this because of the position of the teeth but, once again, Skooter remained completely calm. Within a matter of minutes three caps were removed and the treatment session was over.
It's fair to say that after the removal of her seven teeth Skooter's mouth looked a bit unsightly. There was certainly a bit of a gap in front - check out the picture to the right and you'll see it for yourself. This will mean, however, that her adult teeth now have room to grow into the correct alignment.
As you can see from this picture Skooter coped very well with the treatment and was able to eat a carrot with no difficulty! 
Here are the seven teeth removed on the day, four incisors and three molar caps. Who knows what the tooth-fairy would pay for this lot?
As you can see from the picture to the left, within a week there was a marked improvement in the alignment of her teeth. Bill will continue her treatment within a few weeks. At the next visit he'll address the remaining caps and check that everything's progressing as it should. We'll update you on her progress after her next treatment.