Speculum Use In Equine Dentistry
Posted by Geoff Tucker on Sun, Jul 05, 2009
The opinions and views of this blog is for information and entertainment only and should not be used as a substitute for seeking advice from your veterinarian about your horse and your situation. Specific advice may only be given after a valid veterinary - client - patient relationship is made.
A speculum is a device that holds open a body cavity. The type used in equine dentistry is varies.
Full mouth speculums place two metal plates between the nipper teeth and a lever is used to hold open the mouth against hinges of the device located on either side of the cheek. I have one horse in my practice whose lower jaw was fractured by the prolonged use of this type of speculum.
Another type is tthe wedge speculum. This style places a solid object between the cheek teeth on one side of the mouth. These can be difficult to leave in place and some styles can caus tooth fractures.
The use of my hand and arm as a speculum for some reason is not looked upon by other dentist as a valid speculum. Here I give the reasons for why I find it to be perfect.
FAQ by
Geoff Tucker, DVM is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at
www.theequinepractice.com.
Blog by
Geoff Tucker, DVM is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.