Hey, Tooth Fairy!

Boy do I have a good one for her. Hopefully she leaves me enough money to cover Speedy's latest vet bill. His tooth got pulled yesterday.

Very sleepy pony.

In mid-March, Speedy whacked his jaw on one of the poles that supports the roof over his shelter, knocking a tooth loose. He has a frustrating habit of whirling and pacing when he's anxious, so that was our best guess. Hoping to save the tooth, my vet anchored it to the neighboring tooth with wire. You can read about it here. When after two months the tooth still hadn't settled back in place, Dr. Tolley said it needed to come out.

Numbing his mouth.

Equine dentistry is very similar to human dentistry. Speedy first got a tranquilizer/sedative and then just like you'd do to a human patient, Dr. Tolley numbed Speedy's gums and lips. After that, he snipped the two wires that were holding the tooth in place. He first tried to pull the tooth with a good wiggle, and then he grabbed a tool similar to a flat-tipped screw driver and attempted to dig it free. 

Using pliers.

When neither of his first attempts accomplished the job, Dr. Tolley grabbed a pair of good old pliers. With a firm tug, Speedy's tooth popped free.

We all cheered when it came out.

Just like when a kid looses a tooth, there was a fair amount of bleeding that Dr. Tolley mopped up with gauze. Once he cleaned up Speedy's mouth, the bleeding stopped. He next examined the hole searching for fragments. 

Clean up.

The incisors, like all equine teeth, attach deep within the jaw bone. Without an x-ray to confirm it, Dr. Tolley wanted to be sure that the fracture had been a clean one without tooth fragments hindering the healing process. It should be completely healed in about three weeks, but I am to check it daily for any signs of an infection.

Bottom row, just below his tongue.

When I asked Dr. Tolley about aftercare, he shrugged and said there wasn't a therapy that he thought would hasten the healing process. He said to just ride him. By the time we got home, Speedy was happy and appeared pain free. I gave him nearly an hour to graze and wander. He might have still been numb of course, but he happily chomped on the grass, pausing for a long drink at Izzy's trough.

Hopefully he ate dinner last night. I warned the ranch owner, who doles out Speedy's morning Prascend, that he might be particularly grouchy about getting his pill this morning. Hopefully the text I get is a good one.