Horses with dental problems may show obvious signs, such as pain or irritation, or they may show no noticeable signs at all. This is because some horses simply adapt to their discomfort. For this reason, periodic dental examinations are essential to your horse’s health. It is important to catch dental problems early. If a horse starts behaving abnormally, dental problems should be considered as a potential cause. Waiting too long may increase the difficulty of remedying certain conditions or may even make remedy impossible. Look for the following indicators of dental problems from the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) to know when to seek veterinary attention for your horse: - Loss of feed from mouth while eating, difficulty with chewing, or excessive salivation.
- Loss of body condition.
- Large or undigested feed particles (long stems or whole grain) in manure.
- Head tilting or tossing, bit chewing, tongue lolling, fighting the bit, or resisting bridling.
- Poor performance, such as lugging on the bridle, failing to turn or stop, even bucking.
- Foul odor from mouth or nostrils, or traces of blood from the mouth.
- Nasal discharge or swelling of the face, jaw or mouth tissues.
Oral exams should be an essential part of an annual physical examination by a veterinarian. Every dental exam provides the opportunity to perform routine preventative dental maintenance. Mature horses should get a thorough dental exam at least once a year, and horses 2 –5 years old should be examined twice yearly. A complete oral examination may require sedation in order to fully evaluate the oral cavity. 
Why Perform Routine Dentistry on Your Horse? The importance of maintaining the health of your horse's mouth routine dental care is essential to your horse's health. Periodic examinations and regular maintenance, such as floating, are especially necessary today for a number of reasons: - We have modified the horse's diet and eating patterns through domestication and confinement.
- We demand more from our performance horses, beginning at a younger age, than ever before.
- We often select breeding animals without regard to dental considerations.
Proper dental care has its rewards. Your horse will be more comfortable, will utilize feed more efficiently, may perform better, and may even live longer. Horses evolved as grazing animals, and their teeth are perfectly adapted for that purpose. The forward teeth, known as incisors, function to shear off forage. The cheek teeth, including the molars and premolars with their wide, flat, graveled surfaces, easily grind the feed to a mash before it is swallowed. Like humans, horses get two sets of teeth in their lifetime. The baby teeth, also called deciduous teeth, are temporary. The first deciduous incisors may erupt before the foal is born. The last baby teeth come in when the horse is about 8 months of age. These teeth begin to be replaced by adult teeth around age 2 1/2. By age 5, most horses have their full complement of permanent teeth. An adult male horse has 40 Permanent teeth. A mare may have between 36 and 40, because mares are less likely to have canine teeth. COMMON DENTAL PROBLEMS Horses may suffer from many dental problems. The most common include: - Sharp enamel points forming on cheek teeth, causing lacerations of cheeks and tongue
- Retained caps (deciduous teeth that are not shed)
- Discomfort caused by bit contact with the wolf teeth
- Hooks forming on the upper and lower cheek teeth
- Long and/or sharp canine (bridle) teeth interfering with the insertion or removal of the bit
- Lost and / or broken teeth
- Abnormal or uneven bite planes
- Excessively worn teeth
- Abnormally long teeth
- Infected teeth and / or gums
- Misalignment / poor apposition (can be due to congenital defects or injury)
- Periodontal (gum) disease
DEVELOPING GREATER AWARENESS - If a horse starts behaving abnormally, dental problems should be considered as a potential cause.
- Teeth should be floated and maintained as indicated by an annual examination performed by an equine practitioner.
- Sedatives, local anesthetics, and analgesics can relax the horse and keep it more comfortable during floating and other dental procedures. Such drugs should be administered only by a veterinarian.
- Loose teeth are generally unhealthy teeth. If your equine practitioner finds a loose tooth, he or she will likely extract it. This reduces the chance of infection or other problems.
- Canine teeth, generally present in mature geldings and stallions and sometimes mares, are usually clipped and filed smooth to Prevent interference with the bit. This also reduces the possibility of injury to both horse and human.
- Depending on the condition of your horse's teeth, more than one visit from your equine practitioner may be required to get the mouth in prime working order.
- It is important to catch dental problems early. Waiting too long may increase the difficulty of remedying certain conditions or may even make remedy impossible.
- Older horses should have their teeth checked at least twice yearly.
MORE SERIOUS DENTAL AILMENTS Serious dental conditions can develop, such as infections of the teeth and gums, extremely long hooks on the molars, lost or fractured teeth, and others. These conditions may require surgical treatment and/or extraction by a veterinarian. Your equine practitioner can recommend the best treatment.
This information was developed in part by the American Association of Equine Practioners through a grant from Bayer Corporation, Animal Health.
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