The required knowledge and skills for the exam are;

• Basic understanding of common equine infectious diseases and their control
• Understanding of legal and ethical issues currently applicable to the EDT in the UK
• Ability to handle a horse in a safe, calm and humane manner
• Understanding of bitting and of bit-related problems
• Ability to examine the head and oral cavity, identifying all dental and soft tissue abnormalities
• Ability to document the findings of the oral examination (using standard Triadan nomenclature/terminology) on an equine dental chart
• EDTs may if they like bring their own dental charts which must be in standard ( 3 numeral) Triadan format (e.g. 311 is 6th left mandibular cheek tooth)
• Ability to explain the relationship between dental disease and abnormal tooth wear in the individual animal
• Ability to formulate a list of procedures necessary to correct any abnormalities detected, with awareness that some more serious dental disorders require veterinary attention.
• Awareness of the value of ancillary aids eg. radiography, endoscopy, scintigraphy and of the limitations of a physical examination when dealing with oral problems
• An understanding of age-related dental appearance and age related disorders
• Knowledge of deciduous and permanent incisor and cheek teeth eruption sequence and “cap” shedding
• Ability to age horses with awareness of the limitations of this procedure
• Appreciation that the age of the horse and the overall status of the teeth will affect the degree of cheek teeth reduction, if reduction of the occlusal surface is required.

Candidates should also be competent in the following procedures;

• Corrective procedures should remove sharp enamel points and reduce focal overgrowths (variously termed ‘hooks’, ‘ramps’, ‘beaks’, “prominent” or “tall” teeth) using hand or where appropriate power dental tools
• Corrective procedures should maintain/establish correct cheek teeth occlusion (contact) and symmetry
• Awareness that some major disorders of growth should not necessarily be fully corrected at a single session.
• Awareness that some major disorders of growth e.g. advanced wave mouth and shear mouth cannot be fully corrected without compromising the long-term dental life of the horse.
• Wolf teeth extraction when indicated
• Smooth, tartar-free balanced canine teeth, reduced if very long and sharp
• Balanced incisor table to aid occlusion and lateral excursion of the cheek teeth, striving to maintain occlusion (contact) of the upper and lower central incisors
• Arbitrary formulae for reduction of incisors is not required, incisor contact must be retained
• Separation of the incisors must obviously occur on sideways movement of the mandible, when the normally sloped occlusal surfaces of the upper and lower cheek teeth come in contact. However it must be accepted that due to normal anatomical differences in the widths of the jaws, differences in the ratios of the widths between the upper and lower jaws and of the occlusal angles of the cheek teeth, that different ranges of lateral mandibular movement can occur prior to incisor separation.
• No fixed arbitrary width of incisor separation in relation to a fixed amount of sideways mandibular movement will be required.
• Rostral edges of 1st cheek teeth (‘06s’) should be rounded and balanced- as is appropriate for individual horse (e.g different requirements for broodmare compared to dressage horse). “Complete” bit seating (with possible risk of pulpar exposure) will not be required or allowed
• Individual, abnormally large transverse ridges should be reduced and transverse ridges opposite a pathological diastema should also be removed - Normal transverse ridges even if tall should not be removed.
• Excessive removal of lateral ridges (cingulae) of the upper cheek teeth e.g. full removal for over 1 cm from the occlusal surface is not required, especially on the caudal 4 cheek teeth

We do not expect the more experienced EDT examination candidates to demonstrate their “proficiency” by performing more aggressive reductions of the cheek and incisor teeth. In fact we would expect a more thoughtful and judicious approach from such candidates with in many cases, a less aggressive approach to dental reductions. “More is not better” - the goal of the EDT should be to ensure the optimal short and long-term dental health of horses and excessive reduction of dental tissues will compromise the latter. The requirement of this BEVA/BVDA examination will differ considerably from some of the American examination in this respect.

For the written examination all of the information required to answer these questions is covered in the prescribed reading course, ie; Veterinary Notes for Horse Owners. 1987 revised edition. Edited by Peter D. Rossdale. Elbury Press London is a recommended text in this regard. However, some chapters of this text give advanced details of eg. lameness, which is superfluous to the requirements of equine dental technicians. Pages 0-138 and 399-579 are recommended reading for equine dental technicians.

Additionally, the text: Equine Dentistry. 1999 edition. Edited by Gordon J. Baker and Jack Easley. W.B. Saunders Co. Ltd. London is also a recommended text, and chapters 12 and 13 are essential reading, Chapters 11, 14, 16 and 17 are not within the syllabus of the equine dental technician. The course notes of the BEVA Advanced Theoretical EDT course (information in small print eg lists of disinfectants, is reference only information and need not be memorised), the lecture contents and any handouts from these lectures are also course work for this examination.

The BAEDT can be contacted at www.equinedentistry.org.uk