Dale Jeffrey

Dale Jeffrey Biography

2011-11-08T18:35:00.000-08:00

Biography: Dale Jeffrey

Born in 1941 and raised on a livestock farm in eastern Nebraska. Parents Louis D. and Ruby J. Jeffrey were also raised on diversified farms as grand sons and daughters of early homesteaders. Dale, his brother and three sisters were raised with horses and cattle. Early activities included horseback riding, hunting, fishing, trapping, piano, guitar, football and track followed by some college and farm management that included raising grain crops, horses and cattle.

Upon completion of high school he spent 4 years serving his country in the United States Air Force after which he attended college in Scottsdale, Arizona. This is where and when he began horse training, shoeing and equine dentistry. He built his first horse dental instruments while racing horses in Prescott, Arizona. After injuring his back he returned to Nebraska where he continued his horse related career by building equine dental instruments, teaching horse dentistry, running a stud farm, saddle shop and horseshoeing supply business. Dale dedicated more time to the dental instrument business and horse dentistry school as they continued to grow.

He has been in the equine dental business for over 30 years. He was the original founder of the IAEDT, Horse Dentistry and Bitting Journal and the Academy of Equine Dentistry. Although no longer affiliated with the Academy of Equine Dentistry he is proud of the fact that he has had something to do with the training of thousands of the successful practitioners of today. Dale and his brother Lloyd own and operate World Wide Equine Inc., a company building over 300 quality equine dental instruments that are shipped to over 60 countries. He also owns and operates the Equine Gnathological Training Institute, Inc. with his partner, Mr. Bert Lambert. Dale always wanted to help horses and found his niche as a practitioner, author, teacher and mentor. He is well traveled and has worked and lectured in many countries including the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Norway, England, Ireland, Australia and much of North America. He is the author of many published gnathological studies and six books on equine dentistry. His latest text, over five years in production, “Oral Health in Equidae” is a 300 page full color course text book covering fundamental equine gnathology. It is the text used by the Equine Gnathological Training Institute, Inc. in Idaho and several other popular equine dental schools. Some of the subjects covered in “Oral Health in Equidae” are:

The Equine Dental Paradigm

The Gnathological Approach Explained

History of Equine Dentistry

Historical Instrumentation and Influence on Modern Practice

Anatomical, Physiological and Biomechanical Variations

Arthrosis of the Tympano portion of the Stylohyoids to the Petrous Bones

Why practitioners need to know about this syndrome

Principles of Balance and Equilibration

Incisor and Cheek Teeth Relationships

Parallel Biomechanical Planes of Occlusion

Examinations

Tooth Development

Three Point Harmony

Axial Flow of Food

Rostral, Caudal Movement of the Mandible

How Teeth Affect Air Flow

Bit Seats

Correct Aging by Various Means

Curve of Spee and Wilson

Performance Issues

Tissue Damage and Bitting Injuries

Bit to Bar Relationships

Methodology

Oral Palpation Techniques

Instrumentarium

Instrument Placement

Relief Cuts

Use of the Bussico Incisor Gauge

Terminology

His primary goal is to help horses and the people who care for them by teaching the least abusive time tested gnathological methods. Most training is done at the Equine Gnathological Training Institute, Inc. located at Dale and Lori Jeffrey’s “Medicine Wheel Ranch” of King Hill, Idaho; near Glenns Ferry. The time tested methods being taught have been developed by Dale and his partner, Mr. Bert Lambert.

Equine Gnathology Defined:

Equine gnathology is the study of masticatory systems, including their physiology, functional disturbances, and treatment. Because it is not part of dental school training, most is learned from experienced mentors. Gnathology is doing extremely accurate prophylaxis and equilibration, verifying the work as it progresses, applying all well founded gnathological principles, and rechecking the work continually. The heart of equine gnathology revolves around efficient comfortable mastication and optimum performance.

At 70 years of age Dale and his wife Lori own and operate Medicine Wheel Ranch where they train and raise saddle and draft horses, oxen, hay, orchard grass seed and a variety of produce. They irrigate their farm from the Snake River. Dale rides and drives horses on a regular basis and continues to teach and write about gnathological principles. In addition he works closely with his brother Lloyd at the World Wide Equine, Inc., their dental instrument company. Most of the outstanding photographs on the following web sites of ranch and school activities are due to Lori’s artful eyes. You may contact Dale, his family, his friends, and read about his life’s passion at any of the following:

School websites: www.equinegnathology.com

www.equinedentistry.net

Ranch website: http://www.medicinewheelranchretreat.com/

World Wide Equine Discussion Forum & On Line Catalog: www.equinedentistry.com World Wide Equine Instrument Shopping Cart: http://www.horsedentistry.com/

Address: Dale and Lori Jeffrey

Medicine Wheel Ranch

2050 East Medicine Wheel Lane

King Hill, Idaho 83633

Cell Phone: 208-869-1002

Home Phone: 208-366-3001

Fax: 208-366-2870

Email: dalejeffrey@equinedentistry.com

dalejeffrey@q.com

Floating Horses' Teeth Is Not Exclusively The Practice of Veterinary Medicine

2011-11-08T00:02:00.000-08:00

Why Floating Horses' Teeth Is Not Exclusively The Practice of Veterinary Medicine

By: Dale Jeffrey

Equine Gnathological Training Institute, Inc.

2050 East Medicine Wheel Lane

King Hill, Idaho 83633

Phone:208-869-1002 Email: dalejeffrey@equinedentistry.com
Website: http://www.equinegnathology.com/

Many, if not most of the approximately 122 million horses, mules and donkeys around the world still go without a voice when it comes to problems of the teeth for lack of understanding their needs. Humans have taken over their once natural environment by confining them in some manner or fashion in most cases causing dental problems to increase by about 80% over their normal rate if on natural range. Therefore as masters of equidae it is our responsibility to address these needs. Due to the great number of dental problems and ongoing changes in the mouths of horses, mules and donkeys there will never be enough gnathological practitioners to recognize and address the problems. Gnathological practitioners of today are charged with the job of speaking up for the horse, then explaining, addressing and filling their needs. Their primary role is to be a voice for the horse and act as a communicator and facilitator between animal and principle caretakers, usually owners, trainers and handlers. Horses need to be heard and it takes special people to listen to their unapparent voices. Listening to the horse and working with them takes a trained gnathological practitioner and they don’t happen to come about overnight. They are built and developed by their mentors such as Arnold Rojas and Bo Haynes on farms, ranches and in various types of training centers around the world. Practitioners must get along with the horse while performing (prophylaxis and equilibration) gnathological procedures. These procedures are noninvasive, considered normal animal husbandry and revolve around and are based upon improving the processes of deglutition and performance. Quite often we hear the terms floating and leveling of teeth. I have a problem with these words because there are no straight lines in the head of the horse, including the batteries (arcades) of the teeth. Bones and teeth of the head are made up of arcs, domes, and curves for support and strength. When most people talk about floating and leveling teeth they really don’t mean we should float things flat and level things up but if we look in the dictionary this is exactly what these words mean so a misunderstanding of the task begins. My first exposure to floating of teeth was through Western Horseman Magazine. It told of how people would wait in long lines for Arnold Rojas to float their horses’ teeth and was published over 40 years ago. He must have gotten pretty good results to have so many fans. What person in their right mind would ever have any work performed without results.

Equine Gnathology Defined:

Equine gnathology is the study of masticatory systems, including their physiology, functional disturbances, and treatment. Because it is not part of veterinary medicine or dental school training, most is learned from experienced mentors. Gnathology is doing extremely accurate prophylaxis and equilibration, verifying the work as it progresses, applying all well founded gnathological principles, and rechecking the work continually. The heart of equine gnathology revolves around efficient comfortable mastication and optimum performance.

Generally if the gnathological work is performed on a timely basis it can be done without sedation. Most horses that have a good experience with gnathological practice look forward to the next session and even try to help the practitioner. Financial savings for the client can be incredible when a veterinarian is not required to be present and competition helps to keep costs in line. Properly maintained animals have:

1. Reduced pain and suffering

2. Lower feed costs

3. Less frequent injuries to riders, drivers and others

4. Live pain free longer lives

5. Less stress due to oral pathology

6. Better attitudes

All owners of horses should work to preserve their freedom to choose who works on their horses and their responsibility for those choices. All gnathological practitioners need to do the same; they need to make wise choices as to what horses they work on and accept responsibility for their choices and behavior. Gnathological practitioners should have knowledge of:

1. Accurate aging

2. Anatomy

3. Physiology and biomechanical variations

4. The process of deglutition

5. Understanding the morphology (life cycle) of the teeth

6. Acceptable techniques and good practice

7. Knowing and understanding horses and their needs; Bitting practices and other issues

There should not be a monopoly on horse care. Veterinarians are doctors of animals who not only treat but prescribe and sell medications unlike their human counterparts who can only treat and prescribe, not sell. To presume all licensed veterinarians are trained, competent and able to work on horse’s teeth is ludicrous. Often many horses go without proper oral prophylaxis and equilibration for lack of knowledgeable practitioners and overpricing. Free markets are open markets with less regulation, not more, and good for everyone.

The Equine Dental Paradigm

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The philosophical and theoretical thought that supports the theories, laws, generalizations and experiments of the dental practitioner maybe applied to each horse only in the ways they are similar. In other words, no two horses are alike and the rules that govern gnathology and equilibration procedures apply only in so much as the ways horses may be similar. Maintaining a proper table angle (12 – 18 degrees, depending on the breed, head shape and size and whether range fed or confined) whereby upper and lower opposing arcades have matching curve of occlusion and curvature of Spee and Wilson, allowing the occlusal surfaces to meet and masticate food particles through use of parallel matching biomechanical planes.

After cheek teeth batteries and angles have been set up for proper biomechanical function according to the dental paradigm for the individual horse, incisor tables need to be addressed. Normal incisor table angles should range between 8 -12 degrees off a parallel line drawn forward along the lower bars.

Maintaining incisor table angles may be performed in the following fashion:

1. Minor incisor table adjustment through burring or filing

2. Incisor table angle change to increase occlusion of the cheek teeth allowing normal lateral excursion and anterior/posterior (rostral/caudal) movement of the mandible through all head positions

3. Incisor table angle change and crown height reduction to increase occlusion of cheek teeth allowing normal lateral excursion and anterior/posterior (rostral/caudal) movement of the mandible

All gnathological equilibration should strive to accomplish a more perfect occlusion of the cheek teeth and incisor batteries during engagement while:

1. Enhancing maximum lateral excursion and anterior/posterior (rostral/caudal) movement of the mandible

2. Enhancing the process of deglutition, food movement and comminution through the cheek teeth batteries. Proper bit seats aid in food entry into the cheek teeth batteries/arcades

3. Enhancing performance by alleviating any painful conditions including those of the temporomandibular joints during the articulation processes of engagement and disengagement

4. Maintaining normal battery and arcade crown height and table angles that complement individual biomechanical actions of the bony joints and related tissues of the head

Photo: Clint Malarchuk coming off a rearing horse with major front hooks on the upper first cheek teeth.

Anatomical, Physiological and Biomechanical Variations

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The importance of history is often overlooked, underrated or not acknowledged. When considering good practice we need good information. Information about ourselves, owners and handlers and most of all, the horses we are attempting to help. When speaking of owners and handlers we need to look at individual knowledge and experience, and things relating to personal past practice protocol. When looking at an individual horse’s history some of the things we need to keep in mind are their:

Genetics

Nutrition

Environment

Past treatment

Past use/application

Individual ability

Evaluation Techniques

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To perform good examinations some of the basic things you will need quite a lot of are; life’s knowledge and knowledge of the trade, patience, love/compassion, good consistent behavior, a good set of senses, fear/respect, power/control and money/things. Life’s knowledge is applied when dealing with horses and people. Knowledge of the trade has to do with the art of the equine gnathological practice. Patience is a virtue and mandatory for good practice. Joy with your work is the result of love and compassion. Horses and owners thrive on quality consistent behavior. A good set of senses are indispensable tools of communication that include but are not limited to:

Energy levels

Intuition

Sight

Sound

Smell

Touch

Taste

Acurate Aging of Horses

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Competent and accurate aging is imperative for the equine gnathological practitioner. Without accurate aging, costly mistakes often occur causing much pain and trauma to the horse and worry for owner and handlers. Excessive recovery times often interfere with planned activities for many individuals. It is difficult to perform proper and competent gnathological procedures (dental prophylaxis and equilibration) without accurate aging of individuals.

Aging horses correctly is important for the following reasons. Foremost is to determine individual function, state of development and wear for any given individual. Is the animal old enough to perform the desired tasks and activities? Is the individual too old to perform the desired tasks and activities? Do the tasks at hand fit the particular individual? Types of care and maintenance normally vary with age of the individual. What will we feed and how will we treat any given individual? How old is it? How much does it weigh? What is its overall condition?

Another important reason for understanding dentition development and the dental progression is the area of overall strength and soundness of the individual. When teeth deviate from normal patterns, you can bet the horse is at risk in some form. Primary teeth retained beyond normal shedding times may indicate insufficient or unbalanced mineral intake. Information from the teeth paint a historical picture for each individual. Learning to interpret the pathology of this dental puzzle through understanding of the teeth and correct aging should be every practitioners goal.

Principles of Balance & Equilibration

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Careful visual observation is paramount before palpation techniques are applied discerning symmetry versus asymmetry. The way I look at this is to imagine all twinning parts laterally from the vertical medial facial plane; they should be mirror images of each other, typically meaning eyes, ears, nostrils, muscles, bones and other physical features should balance anatomically from side to side. Asymmetrical features give away limiting physical attributes that often involve varying dental pathologies. External palpation techniques involve the touching of various anatomical (often bilateral) body parts to determine variations in pain, sensitivity, tonus, size and shape. Unilateral muscle hypertrophy (enlargement) in any individual pairing muscle of mastication may indicate dental involvement. Typical situations would be one masseter, temporalis or pterygoid muscle larger than their antagonist.

Gnathological Related Nutrition Issues

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Axial flow of food is the EGTI term for the food movement pattern through the cheek teeth. The pattern begins as the horse’s incisor teeth bite the stems of grass. As the food enters the mouth, it is manipulated by the tongue and begins to roll into a rope-shaped bolus. As the bolus enters the molar arcade, it begins to spin in the opposite direction of the upward and inward movement of the lower jaw. The bolus travels down the molar tables of the arcade and is held in place by the cheek and tongue. The mastication of the bolus is performed on one side at a time. Near the middle of the arcade the greatest amounts of saliva are added to the food. As the fibrous rope-like food bolus moves toward the back of the arcade, the leverage increases crushing the fibers into smaller and smaller particles. This process may be called comminution. By the time the food reaches the last cheek tooth of the arcade the food is ready to swallow. It is this twisted bolus that creates a domed (sometimes called “cupped out”) style table surface to upper cheek teeth batteries in the aged horse. Many times when you look at a horse 25 years of age you will see worn out tables on the molar teeth. There is no reserve crown left to erupt into occlusion. When the horse runs out of reserve crown it is out of true grinding power for the root of the tooth is made mostly of dentin and cementum. This material is too soft to grind the food properly and the bolus takes its toll leaving the domed shape wear pattern. Smooth axial flow is imperative to the horse. Any teeth interfering with the flow of food will interrupt or change the travel of the food bolus. These interruptions often result in the swallowing of only partially chewed food. Partially chewed food results in loose bowel movements and dehydration. Moisture and nutrients that should be assimilated via comminuted particles in the gut are instead passed through the animal. Many times dramatic results manifest themselves through weight gain and better disposition when the teeth are fixed. Loose stools containing whole grains and long grass fibers are eliminated and productive individuals created.

Gnathological Related Performance Issues

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Bits can create excessive pain and illicit poor responses, especially when teeth have not been prepared through correct gnathological prophylaxis. The motion of the head is usually away from pain in search of relief. It is the job of the practitioner to shape the teeth for the desired activity and make sure the gear (head stall or bridle, bit, reins, harness and saddle) fits and functions properly and in such a way that it enhances, not restricts performance. This requires thorough oral biomechanical knowledge and a fair degree of common sense when dealing with myriad existing anatomical situations. These anatomical situations have to do with age, size, shape, sensitivity and many other biomechanical influences. One of which is the way the teeth are formed, shaped and function. Understanding the anisognathous nature of the horses cheek teeth can aid in the preparation of these teeth for bitting, through a common practice called the installation of bit seats. Bit seats create a uniform surface evenly spreading bit pressure and load where soft tissue contacts teeth, namely premolars. The key to installing the right bit seats for any horse is understanding the activities involving each individual and the disciplinary and communicative desires of the rider or driver. Bit selection should be based on the size and shape of the oral cavity and surrounding soft tissue. This includes a study of lower and upper bar tissue, and the tongue. There is a fold in the tongue above the lingual frenum where the free portion meets the base. Generally a well placed bit rides within this fold where it is supported and carried comfortably. The cannons of the bit (mouth piece) may displace soft tissue and can create uncomfortable situations if too large or small. It should be sized according to the overall size and shape of the oral cavity and (bit seats) prepared premolar teeth. A comfortable sized mouth piece for the average horse usually measures 3/8” - 1/2” where the base meets the shank or branch and is often approximately one half these diameters in the center. The cannon should incorporate pressure relief factors and accommodate tongue movement.

Gnathological Related Training Issues

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Training Issues:

Rider Induced Roaring, Bitting Issues

Reduced Air Flow From Dental Cysts

Excess Pressure on Tongue, Bitting Issues

Improper Head Sets

Due to locking and blocking teeth

Horses can’t round up or flex at the poll

Poor Disposition and Temperament

Retained Caps

Wolf Teeth

Hooks and Ramps

Obstacles Preventing Horses From Receiving Care

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Some of the obstacles impeding and preventing horses from receiving the help and care they deserve are:

Love of Money

Envy and greed

Power and control

Fear

Lack of or excessive desire for money

Poor intent and laziness

Failure to see clearly

Myriad licensing obstacles

Annihilation of freedom to choose

Destruction and amputation of the individuals right to be a responsible person

The failure to choose wisely

The failure to act responsibly

Horses change of status from service animal to pet in many parts of the world

Contact Information

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Equine Gnathological Training Institute, Inc.

2050 East Medicine Wheel Lane

King Hill, Idaho 83633

www.equinegnathology.com                http://www.equinedentistry.net/

dalejeffrey@equinedentistry.com

Dale Jeffrey

Ranch Web Site:        http://www.medicinewheelranchretreat.com/

Phone: 208-366-3001

Dale's Cell: 208-869-1002

Lori's Cell: 208-599-7752

Bert Lambert

Bert's Cell: 405-834-4045

World Wide Equine, Inc.

P.O. Box 1040

91 West 1st Street

Glenns Ferry, Idaho 83623

Phone: 208-366-2550 or 208-366-2569

WWE Online Shopping Cart or a Copy of “Oral Health in Equidae” by Dale Jeffrey go to: www.horsedentistry.com

Discussion Forum and On Line Catalog:    http://www.equinedentistry.com/

Copyright: 10/10/2011
Equine Gnathological Training Institute, Inc.
King Hill, Idaho 83633; All Rights Reserved

Teaching and Training by Example

2011-11-07T22:03:00.000-08:00

The greatest gift you can give a fellow critter
is the gift of a good example.