Horsemen, Surgeons And Equine Dentistry ( Moved to community.thehorsesadvocate.com )
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This is a great read thanks Doc T – because I too value horsemanship above my veterinary degree as I am very priveleged to be married to a master farrier/horse trainer and our family lives and breaths the horse industry whereas most vets dont even own a horse let alone ride one……the turf war between equine vets and lay dentists has become very ugly here where I live in Western AUstralia. Lights have been shone by the vet dentists into horses mouths and dental caries have been found so now its mandated that this prolific occurrence of dental caries is due to high sugar hays …SUddenly now we have an explosion of demand for Low sugar hays which are difficult to grow here and unpalatable to horses….. what are your thoughts?
Hi Jenni from “down under.” In 1932 children in the US were having a high incidence of dental carries. Researchers stopped feeding these children oatmeal which every child ate in that period. They also supplemented with vitamin D and E. The carries not only stopped advancing but many actually reversed the decay! The author of the book, “The Plant Paradox” Steven Gundry, MD, suggests that it is the lectins in the oats causing the decay.
There is no one offering a reason for so many cheek tooth fractures secondary to decay of the pulp chambers. Could it possibly be the oat lectins? At Texas A&M vet school the work on the microbiome of the gut is exciting. There are 700 individual species of bacteria within the mouth! One dose of NSAID, antibiotic, and anthelmintic are now being shown to remove whole sections of these bacteria (think – the Jones and Smith families are OK but all of the Adams families are now gone). Fascinating – see this year’s AAEP proceedings.
I am now saying “It’s NOT the sugars people! It’s the damage from the lectins!”
While I have you thinking, read my thoughts as to the cause of EOTRH here – https://theequinepractice.com/the-equine-practice-rounds-vol-2-issue-2/
Would lectins be adsorbed differently 7-10 days after administering de-wormer products ?
Nobody has studied that. Deworming medication has been shown to alter the normal distribution of gut flora. So have lectins.
Lectins aren’t actually “absorbed.” They actually actively force themselves into the tight junctions between the enterocytes (cells of the gut lining). As far as I know the only thing that prevents this is the layer of mucus lining the gut.
Sorry I can’t answer your question but there is no data.
WOW!Sometimes it seems as though these experts are living in bubble.Perhaps a day will come when a common sense approach to dentistry will be a topic at one of these
conventions.Being left out of the box,probably a good thing,after all we should not be limited to what comes from textbooks,but rather learning to think for ourselves.I´ve learned more since
meeting you and graduating from the horsemanship school of dentistry than I could possibly learn from books by these intellects.Here´s a little tidbit.Perfectly health horses are shipped to slaughter houses in Canada for meat production,with great care given to their end.However the gov´t frowns on any non veterinarian doing any routine floating of a horse,because they do not think trained non vets can do the work without harming the horse.I fail to see the rational.
What a great point John. The more I live in this world the more clearly I see the agendas driving the actions of people.
I promise you that I will continue to voice my opinion on what I know is in the best interest of the horse. Thanks too for your kind words. Doc T
I’ve met too many “professionals” with letters after their names who don’t listen to anyone without those letters. I’m glad you were left out of the box!
Hi Barbara – Those of us with degrees should have a thirst for knowledge and be questioning everything. “But why Mommy” was something I wrote ( https://theequinepractice.com/the-equine-practice-rounds-vol-2-issue-1/ ) to discuss just this concept, but for so many overwhelmed with data and underwhelmed with experience, these experts hold on to what they know because to explore other options is a form of insecurity they are unwilling to experience.
Thanks!
Wow. Incredible article and insight. As a horse owner I strive to find the best professional, one who will talk with me, educate me, and most of all, listen to me about my concerns regarding my horses. I know them better than anyone and it is important that I am considered part of the process. In the end I am wholly responsible for everything that is done to my boys. And many a time I’ve gone with my gut and not with the current trend and was proven right by doing so. I’m very thankful for you Doc. You strive to find a better way and you are willing to share it with us. You don’t just rely on the way it has been done forever. Thanks for keeping us informed.
Thanks Stephanie for being an advocate for your horses. As I said to Deb, it is hard to stand up against the “authority” but usually your gut feelings are correct.
Speaking of listening to authorities, what are we all doing when we listen to the news or the advertisers or the actors playing an imaginary character? We are listening without thinking so we have been conditioned to listen to authority instead of listening to our gut and common sense. Ugh… don’t get me started.
Dr. T, I’ve read this article several times, and so agree that medicine (human or animal) has elements of artistry and science. Personally, I am thankful to have both on my team. Thank You for being our horse’s advocate!! As a healthcare professional, I learn every time we talk. It takes artistry to put a puzzle together without seeing a picture first; looking at one piece of the puzzle at a time doesn’t always give a clue as to the whole picture. There is a place for Internist/General Practitioners and Surgeons to work together for the good of one under their care. Owners/caretakers must know whom to approach first for overall healthcare.
Thanks Deb – We do need surgeons but as you say, we also need an over-seer who can put the pieces together. Owners/caretakers need to avoid being spoon fed information. Rather they need an advocate to help them become responsible for the outcome. But it’s hard to question an authority and those with advanced degrees are hard to debate with.
You will always be #1 informer that i will listen to (after my horses,of course) I have found that vets are trying to move “outside ” the box but when push comes to shove it is back to what they learned in vet school..That is not helpful for our horses and usually very hard on our wallets. You keep on moving your way and know that a lot of us “have your back!”
Thanks Heather!!! It’s good to know people have my back on this.
It’s a much more hostile environment when it comes to hoof care…the leaders at most universities are clueless yet so guilty of “bullying non-vets from a stage” and I am so glad to here you say “this is not the type of people I want to associate”. It’s ironic…even with a DVM you feel you can’t be heard. Imagine my frustration…years dedication…multiple documented case studies of reversing major lameness most are after experts at teaching hospitals like Tuffs wanted to euthanize. To me it’s all about the $$$ and if the surgeons can’t cut, then they can’t help.
It is tough being a horseman in a world of non-horseman experts…. regardless of being a DVM. But I also think that there are a lot of “silent majority” DVM’s out there too busy to become a stage presenter and think more like me. Unfortunately most of the horse owners I talk to, especially the older ones, feel like it is a losing battle. That horsemanship no longer exists and why bother trying. We will always be frustrated, but for me, I will keep doing what is right until I no longer breathe.
Certainly par for the course regarding surgeons in the medical field whether human or animal related. The good thing is that there are always some Doctors that also don’t believe in cutting and removing everything just because it is what they are trained to and know how to do. However it really is luck of the draw finding them, so people/horsemen/animal owners have to make their own decisions on how to proceed given new information as it comes in. Thank you for taking the time and being dogged about keeping us informed Doc T.
Guess what?!? I have a few more things to say about this! In the mean time I’m just going to keep doing what I know works for the horses. Stay tuned…
Great perspective in the perils of compartmentalization. Keep at it! And thank you.
Thank you!