Check Your Horse’s Teeth

By Dr. Evany Forrest

Routine dental care is essential to your horse's health. Coming into fall and winter, when feed utilization

Periodic examinations and regular maintenance, such as floating, are especially necessary today for several reasons:

1) We have modified the horse's diet and eating patterns through domestication and confinement;

2) We demand more from our performance horses, beginning at a younger age, than ever before; and

3) We often select breeding animals based on their athletic performance attributes, without regard to genetic dental considerations.

More advanced dental problems may require x-rays or extractions and can require more than one visit to the clinic to correct. However, proper dental care has its rewards. Your horse will be more comfortable, will utilize feed more efficiently, perform better, and even live longer.

FLOATING & PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE

An oral examination should be an essential part of an annual physical examination by a veterinarian. Sedation is required to do a thorough oral exam, especially of teeth and soft tissues near the back of the mouth. Every dental exam provides the opportunity to perform routine preventative dental maintenance, and address issues early.

Adult teeth continuously erupt throughout life and are worn down by chewing. Because the horse's lower jaw is narrow, the lower rows of cheek teeth are closer together than the upper rows of cheek teeth. Due to this anatomy, the horse chews with a sideways motion that causes sharp points to form along the tooth edges. These points should be smoothed to prevent painful damage and ulceration of the cheeks and tongue.

It is common for horse's teeth to become excessively long or to wear unevenly. Routine examination and correction is especially important in horses that are missing teeth or whose teeth have a history of wearing improperly. For example, if the cheek teeth are out of alignment, hooks can form. If the horse is missing a tooth, the opposing tooth can grow too long.

Untreated, these hooks and overgrown teeth can become long or sharp enough to cut into the gums every time the horse chews or is ridden. Over time, this can cause infection and extreme pain. It also affects the normal rotary chewing motion of the jaw, which can cause TMJ dysfunction. Teeth like this may require several treatments spread out over months to slowly reduce the overgrowth without causing damage to the nerves inside each tooth.

The Age Factor

The age of a horse affects the degree of attention and frequency of dental care required. Consider these points:

• Foals should be examined when young to assess for congenital dental defects.

• Horses aged 2-5 have a lot of changes happening in their mouths during this time as caps are shed and adult teeth erupt. In total, 24 teeth are lost and between 36-40 adult teeth erupt! Dental checks every 6-12 months during these years help identify any teeth that are coming in abnormally, and facilitate treating abnormalities before the balance of the whole mouth is affected. To ensure there are no sources of pain that will impact their future training, sharp points, retained caps (baby teeth) and wolf teeth can all be addressed at this time.

• Mature horses should have dental exams annually to address sharp points before painful ulcers develop. Some horses have well-balanced mouths and do well with floats every couple years, whereas most do best with annual floats. With dental imbalances, dental floats every 6 months is appropriate. It is much better to address minor imbalances early, as once a horse advances into their later teenage years the constant eruption of teeth slows down and some issues cannot be rectified. There is a finite amount of tooth to work with, and skipping early dental maintenance causes horses to be more likely to struggle with tooth loss and inability to maintain condition much earlier in their life than necessary.

• Senior and geriatric horses need extra care as they are more likely to suffer from periodontal disease, which is very painful and can cause severe infections and tooth loss if not treated. As teeth wear down and stop growing, the roots become short and teeth may become mobile. It is important to extract mobile teeth as chewing with a wiggly tooth hurts. Regular floats are also important to look after imbalances and maintain as much functional grinding surface as possible - without grinding surface, the horse is unable to correctly chew hay and grass, and will need to be fed softened seniors diets in order to maintain weight. With routine care, horses can maintain functional teeth well into their 30s, whereas horses with poorly maintained mouths often begin to struggle in their early 20s (or even earlier!).

In closing, as riding and competition season approaches it is a great time to consider when your horse’s teeth were last checked. If they may be in need of dental care it is best to do so before your season starts to ensure your equine companions stay comfortable and can perform at their peak potential.

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