There’s nothing that strikes fear into some people more than the thought of having to go to the dentist. The sound of the drill, the thought of those needles is the stuff of nightmares. I’m no exception. In fact I can’t remember the last time I went to the dentist and I’m very lucky to have had, touch wood, trouble-free teeth. Recently, though, I had it all put into perspective for me when our friendly, local vet, Graeme from Manjimup Veterinary Clinic, came out to the farm to give some of our horses, and donkeys, a dental check.
Sally, our white pony, has had some major dental work done last year and was due for a check up so we took the opportunity to get Flyby, our Thoroughbred horse, looked at as he has had dental work done in the past, and Violet, one of our donkeys, had some mysterious lumps in her cheeks that kept appearing and then disappearing again overnight only to reappear a week later, so we wanted her checked as well. Since this wasn’t going to be, hopefully, major dental work I was willing to stick around and help out this time. Last time when Sally had to have teeth removed I left Mark to handle that as even just the thought of it made me feel queasy in the stomach and my teeth ache.
After our usual difficulty of rounding up Sally and Violet we managed to get Sally and Katie and Violet and J.R- they just wouldn’t leave their friends behind – into a small gated off section of the house yard. Here they promptly went about eating all of my tomatoes – and tomato bushes – in my vegetable garden as well as my mint, oregano and potato plants. I should have expected it I suppose. Flyby we moved into the house yard as he was a little too big to squeeze in with the others.
If you’ve never seen a horse have a dental check up it can look quite alarming. First the horse- or donkey – gets a sedative; not enough to knock them out but enough to make them sleepy and calm. Poor old Flyby had all four legs splayed out so that he could stand up right. I think he kept thinking he would fall over and he was definitely a little wobbly at the knees. Then they insert a contraption- I’m sure it has a scientific name- that goes on like a halter with a metal piece that gets placed in the mouth to hold the animal’s mouth open. This way the vet can have a good look in the mouth without getting his fingers chomped on. It doesn’t exactly look pleasant but at this stage the horse, or donkey, is pretty much off in la la land and is more worried about standing up straight than what is going on with his or her mouth. If something is found to be wrong then out comes the file- attached to a drill. . .like a drill. Not your tiny dentist drill that they use on people in the dentist chair. Nope. A drill. Like a Bosch or DeWalt drill like a builder uses.
At this point I am thanking my lucky stars that I am not a horse. Even so, Violet who, it turns out, has two nasty spurs on her teeth, one on either side of her mouth, that are causing some horrible lacerations of her cheek, is only mildly disturbed by the drill and the massive file and doesn’t seem to be in any pain at all. And she definitely needs that work done. Those disappearing lumps were food that she had packed into her cheeks to stop her teeth from hurting her any more than they already were- smart donkey- so those two teeth had to be filed.
Flyby also had a few spurs that needed filing- something that apparently can come with age- but Sally’s teeth looked all good. Despite the fact that it really didn’t take all that long and the animals were only mildly concerned about the process, after having watched it all, I am still really glad that I’m not a horse when it comes to going to the dentist.
All three of our animals were back to normal within an hour or so, once the sedative wore off and we are pleased to report that Violets teeth are no longer causing her any problems. Next time Katie, J.R, Fudge and Pablo will all get a visit from Graeme to have their teeth checked. After watching the goings on recently they, like me, may not be so keen!