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Lectures, Talks and Demos.

 

I also do informal talks/demos for Pony Clubs, Riding Clubs, Colleges, Equestrian Centres, Equine Conference, Exhibitions and Veterinary Pratices.
These sessions can be tailored very specifically according to the audience and vary from 30mins to 3hrs.
These can include head anatomy and physiology, the importance of routine dental care, discussing common problems, legislation, Q & As, fun quizes, techniques in hand floating and the use of power tools on cadavers and/or live horses.

 

 

Clipping Services.

Clipping prices	Pony	Horse
Bib- Neck and Belly	£15.00	£20.00
Trace	£20.00	£25.00
Blanket	£25.00	£30.00
Hunter	£30.00	£35.00
Full – Same as hunter, but legs and saddle patch off.	£35.00	£40.00

 

 

 

Alpacas Teeth

Dental care is very important part of an alpaca’s general health. When one considers that proper functioning of alpaca’s teeth is the first stage of a healthy digestive process. So it is important to know when your alpaca is having a problem and to have a qualified dentist or veterinarian knowledgeable in dental anatomy to care for the alpaca having the problem.

 

Anatomy

 

Alpacas have a total number of 30 to 32 teeth; this varies between male and females.

 

The alpaca is an herbivore and is classified as a pseudoruminant. Being a pseudoruminant means that the alpaca (like the llama) is similar to a ruminant animal (cattle, sheep, goats and deer), but is not exactly the same. Ruminants cannot all be fed the same, so care needs to be taken which ruminant model is used for comparison with an alpaca. The feeding principles for the sheep and goat are closer to what alpacas need than those for cattle.

Because of its size and metabolism, the alpaca needs high quality forages. As the Alpaca is an herbivore it also has hypsodont teeth which continue to erupt throughout life.
Adult alpacas have three pairs of front teeth or incisors, located on the lower jaw and none on the upper. The lower incisors are used to bite off plants and for chewing. They line up with the dental pad (roof of the mouth) making their eating ability a highly efficient method for grass, hay, and plants. However they are designed for much coarser grazing than the UK usually offers and can be overgrown.

The intact male has three pairs of fighting teeth, two upper pairs and one lower pair. In the female, the fighting teeth are usually rudimentary and males gelded at a young age also tend to have small fighting teeth. Next, alpacas can have two pairs of premolars on the upper and lower jaw, and three pairs of molars on the upper and lower jaw, please refer to picture.
Alpacas like other mammals, normally lose their baby or deciduous teeth which are then replaced by permanent teeth.

 

Age of Permanent Tooth Eruption in Alpacas
First Incisors (I1)	2 to 2.5 years
Second Incisors (I2)	2.5 to 3.5 years
Third Incisors (I3)	3 to 4 years
Fighting teeth	2 to 3.5 years
Premolars	3.5 to 5 years
First Molars (M1)	6 to 9 months
Second Molars (M2)	1.5 to 2 years
Third Molars (M3)	2.75 to 3.75 years

 

Signs of Dental Problems

If your alpaca has difficulty in mastication or takes a long time to chew grass or hay or, while eating, spills grain. Any foul smell/halitosis is observed. Another obvious sign is a poor body condition. If the diet is more than adequate but the body condition does not represent this then there could be a dental problem.

 

Common problems

Retained deciduous (baby) teeth can some times cause a problem. Occasionally, a deciduous or baby tooth will not have fallen out by the time the permanent tooth has erupted. Sometimes a foul smell can occur or difficulty with mastication in the young can be a sign. These can be removed very easily as long as the permenant tooth is fully erupted.

 

Broken or chipped deciduous or permanent teeth should be examined to determine the extent of the problem. Loosened teeth may need to be removed, and the possibility of infection will need to be assessed by your veterinarian.

 

Periapical Infections can often be indicated by a swelling in the region of the affected tooth and some times may have a draining tract. A paper by Anderson, D, 2005, Elsevier, showed that tooth abscess may be seen in any age but mostly in aged 4-8 yrs and the most commonly infected teeth are the mandibular molars, thus, occurring during or immediately following eruption of the permenant molars. Other associations of tooth root abscess were also seen with the feeding of coarse fiber hay. The conclusion being those tooth root abscesses occur as the result of grinding excessively coarse foodstuffs during the period of periodontal exposure while the deciduous teeth are shed and the permanent teeth are erupting.

 

Tooth root abscess involving fighting teeth is unique in that trimming of the crown of the tooth is a routine annual procedure. Exposure of the pulp cavity (a sensitive living tissue) or splitting of the tooth during trimming may result in bacterial infection of the tooth root or dental alveolus, refer to picture below.

 

Tooth root abscess involving incisors is again common if the teeth are cut during trimming instead of being burred down. The anatomy of both incisors and fighting teeth are very sensitive and contain a living tissue (pulp), which if exposed can cause infection.
Infection can be confirmed by X-ray, and if present, it will need medical or possibly surgical attention. Antibiotics are used to combat the infection, but dental surgery to remove the bad tooth is usually indicated, this is performed by the veterinarian.

 

Burring incisors and fighting teeth

 

Alpaca incisor teeth are constantly growing and on lush pasture they are not worn down at the same rate as they grow. Therefore their teeth will probably need to be burred once or twice a year, and the same for fighting teeth on males.

In equine dentistry we use tools especially designed as grinders as opposed to cutting as this dramatically reduces the risk of pulp exposure. By grinding the teeth you can assess and look at how close you are to a pulp cavity. This can also be done with fighting teeth instead of cutting. The tooth is burred down and then smoothed off, so can not cause any damage.

The hand piece used has a flat cutting surface which makes realigning the incisors accurately much easier.

 

The discs on the hand pieces have industrial diamond coated heads. This minimises soft tissue damage, is extremely fast cutting and also gives the tooth a good (smoother) finish.

 

For more information, or to book an appointment please call me on 0778781765

 

Prices start from £30 each depending on numbers.