[SkyHorse39]

Oh my gosh cherham! Glad to hear she's all set now and at home recovering

[FalseImpression]

We are set for surgery on Tuesday. We will trailer her on Monday morning and hopefully she can come back on Friday (before our Thanksgiving long w/e), otherwise I am in trouble re trailering the following week.
Keeping fingers crossed that it is pretty straightforward, that she settles down, the tooth comes out easily, etc. I am really nervous now!!

[cherham]

Best of luck with her FalseImpression. Bruce and his staff are excellent to deal with.

I hope its a lower tooth...MUCH easier to deal with then all this wire and packing nonsense when the upper molars are involved. Keep us up to date on the progress.

[FalseImpression]

Of course, not... it's a upper molar (the first one )

I am stressed about the trailering already... Hoping 401 is smooth on Monday morning...

[Foxtrot's]

Metronidozol - can't spell it, can't pronounce it. Takes care of anaerobic infections. My mare had the nasal discharge, smell and abscessed upper molar.
An extra long course of this took care of the tooth without surgery. Not cheap, but not as bad as surgry. No reoccurance after a couple of years.

[FalseImpression]

That was my first idea, but I am afraid it would come back and we'd kick ourselves for not removing it. I don't like to deal with "what if" later on. I wish it could be so simple though.

[cherham]

I think you will find that once the tooth is infected the recommendation is always to take it out. You might control the infection for a while with strong antibiotics but as I have found out this is not always the best course of action.

I just wished the tooth issue had been found sooner for my mare. Would have saved the horse, myself and my bank account a lot of aggrevation in the long run!

[davistina67]

Almost any vet will recommend three weeks of antibiotics first. In more then 50% of cases that will take care of the problem. If it does reoccur a few years later then do the antibiotics again. Pulling a tooth can be a very dangerous procedure and it is always worth trying all over things first.

[Dalemma]

Almost any vet will recommend three weeks of antibiotics first. In more then 50% of cases that will take care of the problem. If it does reoccur a few years later then do the antibiotics again. Pulling a tooth can be a very dangerous procedure and it is always worth trying all over things first.

This was my vets recommendations as well, only she said up to 90 days of antibiotics might be needed.....the longer the antibiotics the better chance you have of the problem taken care of itself.....which she has seen several times.

Dalemma

[Shadowfax701]

This was my vets recommendations as well, only she said up to 90 days of antibiotics might be needed.....the longer the antibiotics the better chance you have of the problem taken care of itself.....which she has seen several times.

Dalemma

I did the same thing with my mare. She was on 6 weeks of antibiotics and it cleared up. We are a year later and so far so good! I would try antibiotics prior to pulling the tooth as that can cause all kinds of issues down the road.

[cherham]

I am just happy to read others have had some success with antibiotic use only. Sadly in both cases with my mare we tried that route (at considerable expense) and in the end the result and recommendations were the same...remove it and have it done with.

Even with all the risks involved in a surgery under full anaesthesia (no way the standing method would work.....tried that the first time) if I see ANY indication of continuing teeth problem I am heading straight to the hospital and have a CT scan done pronto. I just don't trust radiographs of the head any more either...even with the most modern up to date technology available out there it seems these little nasty root infections can hide from detection.

[FalseImpression]

Sigh, so many conflicting reports about tooth extraction or not, standing or GA... my head is spinning.

I know there are risks with an extraction, but I see more risks with keeping her on antibiotics for a long period of time and then the problem reoccurring, then having to do the extraction anyway.
I can't read xrays, but both vets could definitely see a problem with the one tooth on the screen. I am stressed, for sure, but I feel it would be worse not doing anything else than the antibiotics.
She is going in on Monday (and she refused carrots today again, which is a big red flag! so it must be hurting!)

I am just hoping the tooth will come out easily and with her standing!

[Foxtrot's]

There are vets and there are vets -- I was advised to find one specializing in that procedure and since you are in Ontario you should be able to find one, perhaps at the college? But the Metronidozol worked for us.

[Dalemma]

I am just happy to read others have had some success with antibiotic use only. Sadly in both cases with my mare we tried that route (at considerable expense) and in the end the result and recommendations were the same...remove it and have it done with.

Even with all the risks involved in a surgery under full anaesthesia (no way the standing method would work.....tried that the first time) if I see ANY indication of continuing teeth problem I am heading straight to the hospital and have a CT scan done pronto. I just don't trust radiographs of the head any more either...even with the most modern up to date technology available out there it seems these little nasty root infections can hide from detection.

I did not find antibiotics that expensive....at least as far as horses go.....I beleive it was between $150.00 to $175.00 for 30 days.

You are lucky you have access to a CT scan....that would have been my first choice....but all we have are digital xrays in our area......it would have been a two day trip for me to do a CT scan......so not really an option for some of us.

Dalemma

[FalseImpression]

There are vets and there are vets -- I was advised to find one specializing in that procedure and since you are in Ontario you should be able to find one, perhaps at the college? But the Metronidozol worked for us.

Yes, there are 4 clinics within a two hour drive that could do the procedure. We chose the furthest one (of course) mostly because they have dentists on staff and do the procedure fairly frequently. The college was never even suggested (and it is the closest!). There is Ilderton (west of us), Milton and Caledon, plus OVC. We chose Caledon Equine Hospital. We made the decision and I am fine with it. I know from past experience (breast cancer) that I want to do everything possible right away, because I do NOT want to later ask myself "What if I had done this or that?"

I will be on pins and needles all week, but they allow visitors so my daughter will go and visit. I just wish I could explain to my mare that we are not abandoning her... silly I know!

[FalseImpression]

I updated my own thread
http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=274467