Midwest Veterinary Dental Services

06/04/2026

We are two weeks away from Dr. Rice's next speaking engagement!

If you are a veterinarian looking for some on-line CE credits, look no further!

⭐First session will cover oral examination and dental radiography
⭐Second session will focus on diagnosis and treatment planning for endodontic and periodontal cases, followed by a deep dive on canine and incisor disease including extraction techniques.

Click the link below to register for the live webinar on June 13th!

https://events.vetonitce.org/bundle/equine-dentistry-2026/enroll

Equine Dental Essentials: Oral examination and charting, anatomy, common pathology recognition, when to refer, and basic radiography interpretation. Presented b

06/03/2026

Today Dr. Hunt had an extraction of a 14 year old Mustang with an endodontically dead 109. The tooth was fractured off at the gum line and the surrounding teeth had started to drift together. This made the path of delivery more narrow than the tooth that needed to be extracted. We made 2 coronectomy cuts (front and back) on our target tooth to make it narrow enough to deliver intraorally.

05/25/2026

Memorial Day is a day of remembrance, reflection, and gratitude for the ultimate sacrifice made by service members throughout American history. Take a moment at 3:00 PM on Monday, May 25 to observe the National Moment of Remembrance, pausing for one minute to honor those who died in military service.

MVDS will be open again Tuesday, May 26.

05/22/2026

MVDS will be closed on Monday, May 25, 2026, in observance of Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States dedicated to honoring and mourning military personnel who died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. Our office will open again on Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at 8:00 am.

05/19/2026

🦷 Did you know dogs can get cavities too?

While cavities (caries) are much less common in dogs than in humans, they do happen! About 5% of dogs seen for dental procedures have cavities.

Why are they rare? Dogs typically don’t eat sugary foods like candy, baked goods, and sweet drinks the way humans do. Dogs at higher risk are often eating high-carbohydrate diets, frequent table scraps, or lots of human food.

Treatment is very similar to human dentistry:
🦷Decayed enamel is removed
🦷The area is cleaned and filled with a bonded sealant
🦷In severe cases, a root canal may be performed to save the tooth
🦷If the tooth is too damaged, extraction may be necessary

Regular dental exams and dental radiographs help catch problems early before they become painful! 🐾

05/18/2026

An AAEP Dentistry XP Lab will be held in Delevan/Elkhorn June 19 - June 20!
DVM's - Equine dentistry is a rapidly evolving discipline that has seen tremendous progress over the last decade. If you are seeking to elevate your diagnostic accuracy, don't miss this exceptional opportunity! The AAEP DentistryXP event combines focused lectures with extensive hands-on wet labs. RACE-Accredited CE Hours: 18.25! Registration deadline is May 21. For more information, or to register go to: https://membership.aaep.org/aaepportal/iCore/Events/Event_display.aspx?EventKey=DENTALXPWI

05/14/2026

🐾 Hey everyone, Marge here! 🐱

I spent the day at MVDS with my mom! I was pretty upset about missing breakfast, but apparently I had to be fasted for anesthesia. The nice technicians checked my weight, did some bloodwork, and made sure I had a comfy place to relax before my procedure.

The next thing I knew, the technicians had performed a CT scan and dental radiographs and found that I had two resorbing teeth that needed to come out. I guess tooth resorption is pretty common in cats!

After my procedure with Dr. Bilyard, I woke up warm, cozy, and getting belly rubs from my mom (my favorite🥰) . Once I got home, I enjoyed some yummy wet food, lots of snuggles, and a sunny nap in my tiny human’s chair. ☀️

Mom says I’m EXTRA cuddly now that my mouth feels better. I didn’t realize how much those painful teeth were bothering me!

Love,
Marge 🐾

05/06/2026

Periodontal (gum) disease is a common disease process that we encounter in our equine patients. Horse gum disease is not entirely the same as it is in humans, however!

Humans get periodontal (gum) disease when we don't follow good oral hygiene practices. If you quit brushing your teeth every day, this allows plaque to build up on your teeth which coats your teeth and gums with a bacteria-laden film that can then eventually harden into tartar. Ongoing accumulation of tartar then creates localized gum inflammation. If you stop brushing your teeth for a LONG time, then the gum inflammation eventually leads to gum recession and bone recession which can lead to early tooth loss.

Everyone knows that horses don't brush their teeth daily, so you may be asking yourself how the process differs for them! The first answer is that chewing hay is actually a fairly effective tooth brush! The coarseness of hay combined with the grinding motion that horse make when they chew makes plaque and tartar build-up on the cheek teeth actually quite rare! Horses get gum disease when they have spaces that occur in between their cheek teeth which should be packed very tightly together. This can happen for a variety of reasons:
⭐ Maleruption of a tooth--the tooth may come in crooked or tipped
⭐ Loss of a tooth which may cause shifting of the neighboring teeth
⭐ Narrowing of the crown of the tooth in older horses--part of normal aging
⭐ Shifting of the cheek teeth which can start to happen in older horses
⭐ Poor anatomy--some horses are born with a broken blueprint! If they lack
the normal angulation of their teeth they can be predisposed to diastema
(space) formation which can lead to gum disease at an early age.

The picture shows a case that we treated recently for gum disease. The horse had several small diastemata (spaces with feed packing) that was creating pockets in the gums. One of the treatments that we perform in these horses is debridement of the pockets to remove the feed material followed by packing the pockets with a rubber-like impression material bridge. This keeps the food out of the pocket and improves the oral comfort of the horse when chewing. It will not reverse the gum disease, but will hopefully slow down the progression of the disease.

05/05/2026

May the 4th be with you today!

05/01/2026

Young horses have a lot of changes going on in their mouths, which these 10 deciduous (baby) teeth can confirm! These were all removed on the first dental visit of a coming three year old filly!