Next Time You Go To The Dentist Make An Appointment For The Horse Too!
 

Horse dental problems can lead to major health problems yet some owners never think to get a proper dental inspection carried out. We may be able to wear dentures if our teeth fall out, but what can horses do?

The expected life span of a horse or pony is approximately twenty to thirty years. Although according to the Guinness Book of Records Old Billy believed to a Cleveland Bay, cross-eastern horse, foaled in 1760 and lived to the incredible age of 62.

Now by then, even with regular dentistry, most of us would have lost some of our teeth. So how can we help our horses to keep their teeth into old age?

Horses' teeth grow continuously until some time between the ages of 25 and 30. Grass, their natural food, contains silica which is an abrasive and which constantly wears down the horse's teeth. The fibers of heavier grasses require a bit of grinding on the part of the horse. Additionally the horse reaches down to bite off grass and then raises his head to chew which changes his jaw position constantly. A horse living on natural grass will be more likely to naturally polish off the surfaces of his molars into a level. Thus, the horse's mouth and teeth are pretty well adapted to his natural diet.

In order to efficiently grind their food, horses' upper molars are spaced a little farther apart than their lower teeth. While important in the wild, this offset can produce problems in the domestic horse. Horses on alfalfa and less fibrous feeds tend to chew less and their food is generally less abrasive. This being the case there will be surfaces which do not get polished off evenly. Raised edges may appear along the molars; typically along the outside of the upper set and the inside of the lower set. When these "unground surfaces”, get large the horse cannot rock his lower jaw laterally as he chews due to his teeth being locked between the opposing ridges. Thus, the problem gets worse; the ridges slowly appear larger as they are no longer being worn down, and as the horse rubs these ridges when chewing, he's actually wearing down the sides of these ridges into sharp points. He’s in the typical catch 22 situation.

Regular dental care is not only essential for dealing with problems like this, it helps them chew and digest their food and they are more likely to be happy with the bit in their mouth.


What kind of dental problems do they get?

Signs of possible dental problems that may also be signs of other illness are as follows.

• Lack of appetite or reluctance to eat
• Drooling saliva – or a discharge from the mouth or nose
• Sores and swellings around the mouth
• Pain or swellings in the throat and along the jaw-line
• Really bad smelling breath
• Loss of body condition

If there is a dental problem when eating you might see:

• Chewing more slowly than normal or on one side of the mouth only
• Spilling food from the mouth or deliberately dropping (quidding) balls of partially chewed food
• Sores and swellings around the mouth
• Swellings along the jaw-line or cheeks

If his mouth is hurting while you are riding you may see:

• Aggression or reluctance to be bridled
• Resisting the bit
• Head shaking
• Reluctance to move forward
• Rearing or bolting


Therefore, what can you do?


The teeth of adult horses should receive routine professional attention at least once per year, even if you cannot actually see anything wrong. As I said in the title – when you book your own check up with the dentist book one for the horse as well.

Younger horses like young children, require more frequent dental inspections, to ensure that the adult teeth come down properly, and to confirm that the milk teeth have been lost successfully. If he’s still hanging on to some of them waiting for the tooth fairy to arrive, he may need help to deal with this.

As we get older we all need more frequent dental inspections. Older horses are more prone to dental problems and may suffer from loose or damaged teeth, decay or infections from trapped food. Like any animal, bad breath is a good sign of this. If you want them to keep their teeth into old age you’ll have to help them along a bit. Let’s face it; toothache is bad enough for us let alone an animal that can’t tell you why he’s in such a bad mood.





From the author:
I have written a book on horse health, as I firmly believe that prevention is the best cure. If you are regularly checking your horse to see that he’s in tip top condition then at least you will know that any accident has not been caused or worsened by an existing health issue. Check out this book here.  

My site at www.anyhorsebackriding.com has a lot of other useful tips and information and the back issues of my News Letters can be found here

The list of my other articles can be found here
 

© 2006 Roger Bourdon