Your Horse’s Dental Checkup

into the horses mouth and lymphatic system. Because the cementum is the site of the collagen fibres which attach the tooth to the gingiva of the horse the tooth can become loose andor fractured. Although we cant ask our horses how it feels to be troubled with this condition its pretty clear that it is very painful and puts the horse usually senior at risk of systemic infections arising from the lymph nodes in the jaw. Horses with this condition generally have a hard time grasping food without significant pain so even those seniors who are able to enjoy grazing may be compromised.
The initial diagnosis of this disease is usually based on a veterinarians visual inspection but the definitive diagnosis is established with radiographs. By the time it is noticed all the incisors and canine teeth on the upper or lower jaw and sometimes both will frequently be affected.
The only treatment for this painful disease is removal of all the affected teeth. If the incisors of both the upper and lower jaws are affected then all must be extracted. The extraction surgery requires anesthesia similar to that required for other more invasive dental work. The surgery is usually done on the farm and only horses having other health issues would require transport to the veterinary clinic for the procedure.
Seeing your senior with all his incisors removed or even one set of them may be disturbing as there is significant bleeding but most horses will recover very quickly after the affected teeth have been removed. Your veterinarian will prescribe postsurgical care that will include antibiotics and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs as required.
In most cases the improvement in the horses health and experience of life is astounding once the affected teeth have been removed and contrary to what you might believe these horses seem to manage on a typical senior diet very well even without a full set of incisors.
Preventative Maintenance
During your horses dental exam your veterinarian may discover any one of a number of other conditions in your horses mouth including caps in the young horse toothy decay fractured teeth birth defects and developmental abnormalities. All of these conditions can contribute to the risk of developing diastema and subsequently periodontal disease. Any one of these also has the potential to be a significant problem for your horses wellbeing if not addressed
The key to good lifetime dental health for your horse is preventive