Help with Belle’s dental surgery

Belle is a sweet, almost 3 year old draft filly who was surrendered by a dealer who refused to put the time and money into her medical needs. She has swelling on both sides of her face alongside her upper cheek teeth. She has a deep tunnel beside 2 of her upper teeth which get packed with rotting food and xrays show them leading directly up to infected tooth roots. Both infected teeth need to be removed. Due to her young age, these are complicated extractions. Her roots are still forming and they are thin and fragile, which makes them easy to break when pulling the teeth. Broken fragments can lead to serious complications so they would also need removal. We have enlisted the expertise of a veterinarian who is a board certified dental specialist. Belle has an appointment with her at the Tufts Veterinary School Hospital on Monday, February 10th 2025. The estimate for her oral surgery is $5000. Can you help us give Belle the care that she needs to heal and grow up strong so she can find her forever home?

2/11/25 Update: Yesterday, our newest arrival Belle made the journey to Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University to see the dental specialist for her chronic tooth root infections.

Belle was the perfect patient- she's only 3 years old and she took in all the sights and sounds of the hospital environment with wide-eyed apprehension. Even when the electric garage door opened overhead she froze and stared but never even took a step away. She willingly complied with everything asked of her, including backing into stocks that she'd never seen! She is such a good girl!

Dr Limone faced an extremely challenging extraction on Belle. Because of her age, the tooth is very long and strongly attached. Her premolar roots are still developing so they are also fragile. The tooth can't just be yanked out by brute force; rather, it's a long and painstaking process of gradually getting the attachments to loosen and be sure the tooth comes out without fracturing it. This was complicated by the bulbous shape of the roots as a result of the long-standing infection. Belle was kept sedated, on IV fluids and had nerve blocks to numb her mouth and keep her comfortable. For over 2 hours Dr Limone labored on what was expected to be the "easier" of the two teeth until it finally released. At that point we decided not to keep going another 2 hours for the 2nd tooth and it was in Belle's best interest to reschedule that extraction for another day. She is back in her paddock and acting like herself today on pain medication and antibiotics.

We are so grateful for Dr Limone's care of Belle. This level of expertise with a board certified equine veterinary dentist is not cheap; our bill came to just under $3000 yesterday. We anticipate the 2nd tooth extraction will be in the same ballpark if it presents the same difficulties. Our fundraising efforts for Belle, between website and Facebook donations, also came in just under $3000 so this first surgery was fully covered. If you can help with her second procedure we would be so grateful. We're feeling the love this month and we can't provide this necessary medical care for our herd without the love of our supporters as well!