In 2008 Oklahoma legislators passed a law that would make it a FELONY for anyone
who is NOT a veterinarian to provide equine dental services for your horse.  





§ 698.11 PRACTICE DEFINED A. The practice of veterinary medicine shall include,
but not be limited to: 1. Diagnosing, surgery, treating, correcting, changing,
relieving, or preventing animal disease, deformity, defect, injury or other physical or
mental conditions including the prescribing or administering of any drug, medicine,
biologic, apparatus, application, anesthetic, telemedicine, animal chiropractic
diagnosis and treatment, or other therapeutic diagnostic substance or technique;
dentistry; complementary and alternative therapies to be defined by rule pursuant
to Section 698.7 of Title 59 of the Oklahoma Statutes; testing for pregnancy or
correcting sterility or enhancing fertility; or rendering advice or recommendation
with regard to any of the above

SUBCHAPTER 9. ANIMAL CHIROPRACTIC DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT 775:10-9-
3. Certification for a veterinarian in animal chiropractic diagnosis and treatment.  A
veterinarian who has completed certification from the American Veterinary
Chiropractic Association or the equivalent, will be certified in animal chiropractic
diagnosis and treatment as approved by the Board. 775:10-9-5. Continuing
education hours Each veterinarian certified in animal chiropractic diagnosis and
treatment applying for renewal of a license related to animal chiropractic diagnosis
and treatment shall have completed a minimum of (12) twelve hours annually, in
addition to the required (20) twenty hours of continuing education. The additional
(12) twelve hours shall be approved and completed per biennium.

SUBCHAPTER 10. COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE THERAPY 775:10-10-1.
Definition of Complementary and Alternative Therapy Complementary and
Alternative therapies, include, but are not limited to: acupuncture and related
acupoint therapies; manual therapy which includes physical therapy, massage
therapy, and osteopathic therapy; energy therapies which includes ultrasound,
pulsating electromagnetic field (PEMF), static magnetic fields, laser, Reiki,
therapeutic touch, Bowen, and shock wave therapy; integrative medicine which
includes Ayurveda, aromatherapy, flower remedy therapy, holistic medicine,
homeopathy, nutritional therapy, and phytotherapy; and shall be performed on
animals only by a licensed veterinarian or under the direct supervision of a licensed
veterinarian.

775:10-10-10. Requirements prior to providing animal massage services (a) No
person shall provide animal massage services to any patient until certified in animal
massage therapy, acquire liability insurance coverage and a written referral for such
services is received from an Oklahoma licensed veterinarian. (b) A copy of the
written referral must be kept by the referring veterinarian on file for review or audit
by the Board or its representative for three (3) years post term. (c) The referring
veterinarian shall confirm the animal massage provider has written proof of liability
insurance coverage for providing animal massage services from an insurance
company duly licensed to conduct business in the State of Oklahoma with the
Oklahoma Insurance Commission prior to making any referral for massage therapy
upon an animal.

775:10-7-9.1. Duties Performed Without Direct Supervision (a) The duties of a
Registered Veterinary Technician shall be performed pursuant to the direction and
under the general supervision of a licensed veterinarian. Where appropriate,
depending upon the services provided, such general supervision shall not be
construed to require the physical presence of the supervising veterinarian at the
time and place where such services are performed. (b) A Registered Veterinary
Technician may perform the following procedures listed below as directed by or on
the order of a licensed veterinarian without the continuing physical presence of the
licensed veterinarian, but the RVT must comply with the general record keeping
requirements as set forth in the Oklahoma Veterinary Practice Act: (1) Euthanasia of
animals; (2) Thoracocentesis; (3) Abdominocentesis; (4) Ocular Tonometry; (5)
Animal Massage Therapy; (6) Vaccinations; and (7) Dental Scaling and Polishing


§ 698.12 ACTS NOT PROHIBITED - The Oklahoma Veterinary Practice Act shall not
be construed to prohibit;
1. Acts of dehorning, branding, tagging or notching ears, pregnancy checking,
collecting semen, preparing semen, freezing semen, castrating, worming,
vaccinating, injecting or artificial insemination of farm animals; or the acts or
conduct of a person advising with respect to nutrition, feeds or feeding;
2. The owner of any animal or the owner’s employees or helpers from caring for or
treating animals belonging to the owner; provided that, the acts of the owner’s
employees or helpers otherwise prohibited by the Oklahoma Veterinary Practice Act
are only an incidental part of the employment duties and for which no special
compensation is made;
9. Any person employed by a licensed veterinarian who is assisting with the
professional duties of the licensed veterinarian and who is under the direct
supervision of the licensed veterinarian from administering medication or rendering
auxiliary or supporting assistance under the direct supervision of such licensed
veterinarian, provided that the practice is conducted in compliance with all laws of
this state and rules of this Board;
10. Any chiropractic physician licensed in this state who is certified by the Board of
Chiropractic Examiners to engage in animal chiropractic diagnosis and treatment
from practicing animal chiropractic diagnosis and treatment; or
11. Any chiropractic physician licensed in this state who is not certified to practice
animal chiropractic diagnosis and treatment by the Board of Chiropractic
Examiners from providing chiropractic treatment to an animal referred to such
chiropractic physician by a licensed veterinarian.
12. Any individual that is certified in animal massage therapy and acquires liability
insurance from engaging in animal massage therapy after referral from a licensed
veterinarian.
If you hire a person off the
street and call him your
"employee"  he can legally
inject your farm animals
with medications and even
castrate them, whether he
is a vet or not, and no
specialized training is
required.  

If the law allows you to pick
and choose what persons
you hire to care for your
animals....and if the law
allows you or your
"employees" to administer
intravenous medications
without a vet license, then
it is only reasonable to
assume the lawmakers are
trusting you to make good
choices when it comes to
the care of your own
animals.  

So why then can you NOT
choose who floats their
teeth? After all, you are
competent enough to
choose who puts shoes on
their feet and who
massages their muscles
and which veterinarian you
use.

Equine dentistry or
"floating teeth" is not
veterinary medicine any
more than is
horseshoeing. It is a
service that needs to be
provided only once or
twice per year and is  
generally non-invasive.  
Those who lobby against
this trade try to make the
act of  "floating teeth"
sound invasive and
surgical like its something
which requires a vet,  
when nothing could be
further from the truth.

Very rarely will a horse
have a problem in his
mouth that requires
surgical intervention.  In
this case, however, a
competent equine dentist
would tell their client to go
see his vet.  The act of
floating teeth simply does
not require veterinary
supervision.

There simply aren't enough
"teeth floating" vets to
care for even a small
portion of the horses in
this state. There aren't that
many equine dentists
either.  So why not let
those who are qualified
help provide this service?  
OKLAHOMA Veterinary Practice act
Comments/Thoughts
Veterinary Practice Acts
Click here to read the floor sub for SB 452, which contains the
"Animal Husbandry" amendment, allowing teeth floating and
certain other acts of animal husbandry. The amendment was
submitted Monday at 4pm.

Rep. Lee Denney (DVM) issued an amendment to the same
bill on the same day (at 4:40pm), which totally removed teeth
floating from the amendment.   Click here to read more.
SB 452 Husbandry Amendment