Dentistry
Equine dentistry is an important aspect of your horse’s wellness. Poor dentition can cause a variety of problems, including poor weight gain or maintenance, choke, and bitting or performance issues.
Key Points:
- Your horse’s dentition can affect their overall wellbeing, comfort, nutrition, and performance
- A dental evaluation and floating should be a part of your horse’s wellness exam every year
- Equine dentistry should only be performed by a licensed veterinarian
Horses are hypsodonts, which means their teeth erupt from their gumline over the course of their life. Horses also chew in a circular pattern, which means that over time, they will create sharp points on the outside of their upper teeth and the inside of their lower teeth. If left unaddressed, these points can become sharp enough to cause ulcerations on the tongue and cheeks.
Young horses will have a large amount of dentition changes in the first 5 years of their life, with their first deciduous “baby” teeth starting to erupt within 1 week of age. Baby teeth are much softer than permanent adult teeth and will wear into sharp points more quickly. Because of the dramatic changes in a horse’s mouth in the first few years of their life, their mouths should be evaluated by a veterinary professional frequently to ensure that any developing dental problems can be addressed, and possibly corrected, as quickly as possible. Young horses may need to be evaluated as often as every 6 months.
Commonly, wolf teeth are removed in young horses around 1 year of age, or before they enter training, as this small tooth that sits in front of the premolars can interfere with the bit. This procedure can be done in the field.
Older horses also have increased dental needs, as their teeth wear down and have potential changes to the chewing surface of their teeth.
Miniature horses are another group that may require more dental work than your average horse, as the anatomy of a mini mouth can be full of abnormalities due to the imbalance between the small size of their mouth and the large size of their teeth.
We recommend that adult horses have a dental evaluation as a part of their annual wellness check.
A dental evaluation will allow your veterinarian to assess your horse’s dental health including the presence of sharp points, hooks or ramps in your horse’s mouth, any cracked or broken teeth, the presence of periodontal disease, and any other abnormalities in the anatomy of your horse’s mouth – all of which can affect your horse’s overall comfort, health and nutrition. A complete dental evaluation is typically done under standing sedation with an oral speculum that allows your veterinarian to examine your horse’s entire oral cavity – from their incisors all the way back to their very last molars.
Your veterinarian can then float your horse’s teeth – this procedure allows your vet to use a powered tool to file down the sharp points and correct irregularities of your horse’s teeth.
Many dental abnormalities can be fixed in the field; however, some complicated extractions and dental corrections may require referral to a surgical facility for treatment.
***It is extremely important to note that the only person who should be evaluating your horse’s mouth and performing any kind of dental procedure is a licensed veterinarian. Lay-dentistry, or dentistry done by anyone other than a licensed veterinarian, is illegal. Be very wary of anyone marketing themselves as an “equine dentist” who is not also a veterinarian. Dentistry not done with the proper equipment, tools and knowledge under proper sedation can end with disastrous results at worst, and an improper float at best***
