Equine dentistry: Survey on Swiss horse owners

The interest in equine dentistry has significantly increased in the last 15 years. On the part of the veterinarians as well as of the horse owners there is a strong attention to the topic. The aim of the questionnaire was to investigate amongst horse owners what their level of information and prefer...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSchweizer Archiv für Tierheilkunde Vol. 159; no. 8; p. 437
Main Authors Schiesser, E, Geyer, H, Kummer, M, Jackson, M
Format Journal Article
LanguageGerman
Published Switzerland 01.08.2017
Subjects
Animals
Dentistry - methods
Dentistry - standards
Horses
Surveys and Questionnaires
Switzerland
Veterinary Medicine - methods
Veterinary Medicine - standards
horse
questionnaire
Fragebogen
Laiendentist
Pferdebesitzer
horse owner
Pferd
Pferdezahnspezialist
dental treatment Switzerland
Zahnbehandlung Schweiz
lay dentist
equine dentist
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Summary:The interest in equine dentistry has significantly increased in the last 15 years. On the part of the veterinarians as well as of the horse owners there is a strong attention to the topic. The aim of the questionnaire was to investigate amongst horse owners what their level of information and preferences about dental treatment are and how they are implemented. The questionnaire was translated into the three national languages and included 20 questions about level and sources of information, frequency of treatments and the horse owner's stance over sedation of the animals. With a return rate of 45% (1'466 of 3'250 sent questionnaires) significant conclusions could be drawn. Horse owners showed a strong demand for clarification regarding tooth problems, the causes, consequences and methods of treatment. More than half of the owners considered themselves not well informed. The treating person was in 66.7% a veterinarian with a special education. Horse owners indicated that information circulated most frequently by word of mouth recommendations and they explicitly wished information from professional and reliable sources. The questionnaire provided a clear result about current equine dental treatments. We suggest that they should be performed by veterinarians only with a special education.
ISSN:0036-7281
DOI:10.17236/sat00125