Proper dental health is important for animals just as it is for people. Equine dentistry works to help horses have healthy teeth leading to a healthy body.



Individuals that desire to work with horses and choose dental work take equine dentistry courses.



They are known as Equine dentists. Equine dentistry courses can be completed at some colleges and specialty universities as well as dentistry schools. Equine dentists need at least 500 hours working with a horse’s mouth and teeth as well as dentistry proficiency. All veterinarians take undergraduate courses in veterinary medicine including biology, animal science and chemistry. Then they have graduate work and will take specialty courses, such as Equine dentistry courses. They learn that the teeth can affect behavior, as well as digestion for instance. They also learn about disease that can be caused by the issues in the mouth.

Those taking part in these Equine dentistry will have classroom time as well as lab instruction. Part of the instruction will be to learn how to use the tools needed in the field which includes power tools as much as hand tools. It is also important to learn the proper way to sedate an animal and make sure it is done safely. If it is not done properly the horse as well as those working on the horse could be hurt. An important technique to learn is how to reduce the risk of biting, which is helped with hands on experience. They start practicing on horse skulls then with live horses while working with direct supervision. Learning how to work best with a horse is beneficial.

A productive Equine dentistry program should be earned at an accredited college. Some Equine dentistry courses could include information for the business side of equine dentistry as well as the actual horse dental care classes such as Equine anatomy. They will even learn how to bill customers and work with insurance. There will also be International Association of Equine Dentistry (IAED) certification exams to take.