Regular visits from the dentist will mean a healthier, happier horse
| Regular visits from the dentist will mean a healthier, happier horse What happens in your horses' mouth |  |
On the chart you will see the incisors are at positions 1, 2 and 3. The canine teeth are at position 4 and wolf teeth, if they have them they are at position 5. The large grinding teeth are at positions 6 to 11: 6 to 8 being pre-molars and 9 to 11 being molars.
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Ideally, your dentist will not need to perform involved dentistry on your horse unless it has a serious dental issue, usually caused by conformation problems or by an accident. The majority of dental work on horses should be maintenance work, just ensuring that the mouth is balanced to allow proper chewing of food.
When a horse eats, they nip the grass or pull hay from their nets with their incisors. The food is then moved backwards to the molars. The food is rolled during the chewing action and moved backwards along the molar arcade whilst being chewed. If the horses mouth is balanced and working correctly then the food particles should end up somewhere in the region of 3mm in length. If this chewing action happens as it should, the horse will gain the optimum benefits from the food. If the mouth has become unbalanced, i.e. the grinding of the molars is not as it should be, the food will not be broken down properly and the horse could begin to lose condition. In more severe cases improperly chewed food can lead to stomach conditions like colic.
The Cheek Teeth - Pre-Molars and MolarsAlso, as with humans, no horse has a perfectly symmetrical mouth. This means that when the top molars move across the bottom molars (horses have a sideways grinding action), one set of molars will be forward of the other set. Therefore, if the top molars were more forward than the bottom molars, the front of the top molars and the back of the bottom molars would not be getting worn down. The longer this situation is left unattended, the worse it becomes. You may notice your horse spilling food when eating (know as quidding), headshaking, avoiding contact with the bit or other tack, possibly even avoiding pressure with the head collar. They may carry themselves differently to avoid the painful contact which could be mistaken for a back problem or lameness. In extreme cases the unopposed teeth can become long enough to cut into the opposite gum. At this stage, more extreme dentistry would be required, probably involving sedation and power tools. This can easily be avoided with regular maintenance from the dentist.
| In the photograph you see huge hooks on the upper 6 pre-molars caused because there is no occlusion from the lower 6 pre-molars. This is an extreme situation and would not have occurred with regular visits from the dentist. It is very important that your dentist understands the workings of the horses mouth. There have been many situations where a dentist has removed too much tooth from the molars. This causes the incisors at the front of the mouth to meet, but the molars at the back of the mouth do not touch. Once again, this means that the food will not be broken down properly and the horse will not get the goodness that it should. |
Young horses face one or two extra problems. Apart from the molars at positions 9 to 11, all the other teeth are deciduous. This is the equivalent to "baby teeth" in humans. These teeth will be pushed out when the adult tooth comes through. You may hear these referred to as caps. Often they will work free when the horse is eating but sometimes they will stay on the tooth and being loose will irritate and can become quite painful.
Your dentist should see this on their regular visit and either remove them (if they are ready to be removed) or advise you to monitor the situation and to call them if you notice any problems with your horses eating or behaviour.
It is important for your horse's wellbeing as well as your enjoyment as a rider that your horse gets a regular visit from the dentist. These would usually be approximately every six months but your dentist would advise you if there were any issues and more regular checks were needed.
Ensuring you get the right dentist
It is also extremely important that you have the right dentist for your horse and in the UK we are lucky enough to have a standard that has been recognised by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) and the Department of Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). This standard is referred to as a Level 2, meaning that a dentist with this qualification is deemed to be exempt from the vet act which would normally cover these treatments. There ore, Level 1 is defined as being basic diagnosis and rasping. Although your horse will more than likely only need basic diagnosis and rasping, there is no recognised examination for Level 1 work. Our own association, the WWAED, is the only association to examine all dentists at Level 1 prior to accepting them as a Full Member. If you ensure that your dentist holds a Level 2 qualification then you know that they have demonstrated the competency to work at a high enough level to pass the examination. Even if you use your vet for your horse's teeth, you should ensure that they have passed their Level 2 examination. Remember, as a vet they have many aspects of the horse to cover and cannot build up the experience that a full-time dentist has. There is only a couple of days allocated on equine teeth as part of vet training, and so more vets are choosing to take the Level 2 exam to show that they are proficient.
There is another major benefit for all horses that can be brought about by you the owner. If you insist on using a Level 2 qualified dentist for your horse's teeth, it will encourage all individuals that wish to practise dentistry to obtain the qualification. This will ensure that the standard of equine dentistry as a whole improves and that the individuals that are not capable of performing at the required level will disappear.
Remember, regular visits from the dentist will ensure a less stressful time for your horse at each visit and regular inspections will make sure that major problems can not occur. Also, by choosing a properly qualified dentist you are helping to raise the standards for equine care.| This article has been reproduced by kind permission of Steve Goode President of The WorldWide Association of Equine Dentistry (WWAED) More information on equine dentistry can be found at: http://www.wwaed.org/ |  |
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Added on: 24/07/08. Views: 595
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