Dentistry

Dentistry

Horses, unlike dogs and cats, have teeth that are continuously worn away at the surface by the grinding action of chewing fibrous food material. To compensate for this, horses’ teeth continuously erupt throughout their lifetime.

Horses and their teeth evolved to spend most of their time grazing on tough, fibrous herbage. Domestication has meant that grazing time is often reduced and even horses living at grass are grazing much softer swards. This means that there is often an imbalance between the amount of tooth wear and the amount of tooth eruption, leading to sharp overgrowths and imbalances.

Routine dental check-ups are essential for all horses to maintain a healthy and comfortable mouth. Even small overgrowths can produce considerable discomfort and reduce chewing ability and left untreated can develop into serious problems.

We recommend dental checks annually for all horses (although some young or old animals will require more frequent examinations). As veterinary surgeons, we are best placed to look after your horse's dental health.

What happens at the dental check-up?
In order to properly examine the cheek teeth (pre-molars and molars) in the back of the horse's mouth, a dental speculum (gag) is placed to open the mouth and allow a thorough examination.
Some horses will tolerate this procedure with just head collar restraint, but some will require sedation to allow a thorough and safe examination.

The dental arcades are then assessed both visually and by manual exploration of the mouth. Abnormalities such as overgrowths, gaps between teeth, fractured or missing teeth or abnormal conformations are assessed. Often, all that is required is routine "floating", where any abnormally sharp edges of the cheek teeth are rasped and any focal overgrowths (hooks) reduced.

If the examination reveals a more serious problem such as a fractured or infected tooth, further treatment may be necessary and will occasionally necessitate referral to an equine hospital for surgery.

Older horses.
Horses are born with a pre-determined length of cheek tooth and although this will continue to erupt throughout the horse's life, once all the tooth has been worn away no more can be grown and the tooth will be lost.
Older horses need more frequent dental care and may need special diets in order to maintain body condition as their teeth age.