It is surprising, to say the least, how little attention has been generally paid, until relatively recently, to the care of horse teeth and the problems and pathologies associated with it. It is even more surprising, if possible, when we have all suffered to a greater or lesser extent the experience of toothache. Routine care of a horse’s teeth is of great importance to maintain its general health and well-being. If we maintain adequate oral and dental health, the horse will be more comfortable as it feels free of aches and pains, it will be able to use the nutrients in its diet effectively and without wasting food, we will avoid a drop in its athletic performance due to poor nutrition and pain associated with teeth and bites and, ultimately, you will live longer and more comfortably.
Horses have evolved as herbivorous animals that roam most of the time in search of food in the form of forage, and their teeth are perfectly adapted to that task. The incisor teeth are used to cut and uproot grass and forage; The molars and premolars have wider, flatter and rougher surfaces, and they are used to crush and form the bolus before it is swallowed. Like humans, horses have deciduous or childhood teeth, and other permanent or adult teeth, but they differ from us in that their teeth are made up of a large crown, hidden for the most part in the dental socket of the bone, and that allows its growth and continuous wear until very advanced ages.
It is important to know the teeth eruption times because it will help us detect problems associated with teeth changes. The first baby or deciduous tooth may appear in the foal before it is born, and the last when it reaches 8 months of age. All of these teeth will be replaced by permanent or adult teeth, starting around two and a half years of age, and leaving a complete adult mouth at five years old, where we could count up to forty-two teeth in the horse (if we include the wolf teeth), and thirty-eight in the mare, where the canines do not develop.
To begin with, we must learn to identify the signs that alert us to the existence of dental problems, such as pain or irritation, since they may not be so obvious if the horse has learned to tolerate them and live with them. For this reason, carrying out periodic dental examinations is essential and constitutes one of the pillars of Preventive Medicine, thus identifying small problems before they become more expensive and difficult to treat. Signs that definitely demand immediate attention are the loss or fall of food when the animal is eating, difficulty in chewing, excessive salivation, weight loss, presence of large or undigested pieces of food in the feces, having the head bent towards a side or nodding, biting or resisting the bit, sticking out the tongue, decreased performance, bad odor from the mouth (halitosis) or nose, blood in the mouth, nasal discharge, and inflammation of the face or jaw.
Horses’ teeth continue to grow throughout their lives and wear down mechanically with chewing, which includes lateral movements of the jaw. Horses that graze for most of the day are continually foraging for grass on the ground, picking up gravel and dust particles that, along with the chemical components of the grass, naturally wear down their teeth. The domestication of horses has caused them to be stabled most of the time and are not exposed to the same degree of natural wear and tear. They also do not eat continuously but their meals, consisting of processed feed and hay, are restricted to two or three times a day, and these soft foods require less chewing. All of this contributes to the horse’s teeth becoming excessively long and not wearing down evenly.
Tomb of Neb-Amon, in the upper part a chariot with a team of horses, the lower one with a team of onagers.
Regardless of the horse’s handling and stabling conditions, their teeth tend to develop sharp points as a result of their anatomy and way of chewing: the lower jaw is narrower than the upper jaw, and food is crushed by chewing towards the teeth. sides. These sharp points are thus formed on the lateral side of the upper molars (maxillary) closest to the cheeks, and on the side in contact with the tongue of the lower molars (mandibular).
The oral examination is an essential part of the annual physical examination performed by the veterinarian, and at the Sierra Veterinary Hospital in Madrid it is an integral part of our popular Preventive Medicine program. This detailed oral examination is followed by the appropriate preventive and treatment techniques in each case, which take into account factors such as the age of the horse, and the existence or not of certain pathologies, including those that affect it systemically; This is the case of horses with decreased immune system function.
The most common dental procedure that veterinarians perform is scraping the horse’s teeth, which allows us to eliminate the points that are created by poor alignment of the teeth, create an adequate fit for the bit, and help maintain the adequate length of incisors and molars. Other less frequent pathologies, but no less important to identify, are infections of the teeth and gums, ulcers and oral abscesses, the presence of very long hooks on the molars, loss and fractures of teeth, tumors, etc These pathologies may require surgical treatment with or without extraction of the affected teeth, and there is no one better than your veterinarian to diagnose them and advise you on their treatment.
Tomb of Neb-Amon, in the upper part a chariot with a team of horses, the lower one with a team of onagers.
Tooth filing is especially important in horses that have lost a tooth, and in those whose teeth are poorly positioned and the upper teeth do not overlap well with the lower ones. Normally, contact with the opposing tooth keeps both tooth surfaces equal in terms of wear. When a tooth is not aligned (bottom to top), points and hooks develop. If these abnormalities go unnoticed, the spikes or hooks become large enough to traumatize and ulcerate the soft tissues of the mouth, such as the inner surfaces of the cheeks and tongue. When these tips are small, they are removed with manual tools, but if they are large, mechanical tools similar to dental drills are used.
Wolf teeth (premolars 1) are small and located in front of the second premolar, they very rarely appear on the lower jaw, and a horse may have one, two, or none. Although not all wolf teeth are problematic, early extraction is common when they are easier to extract, and before they become a source of pain and interfere with the bit, especially in competition horses.
The age of the horse is the factor that will most determine the degree of attention and frequency of veterinary care that its teeth require. Horses beginning training for the first time, especially between two and three years old, need a thorough oral and dental examination. Their teeth need to be filed to remove sharp edges, ensure that there are no problems with changing teeth and that they do not retain deciduous teeth. It is advisable to do this exam before starting sports training, thus avoiding the problems they cause.
Horses between two and five years old may require more frequent dental exams than adults, since baby teeth are somewhat softer than permanent teeth and may develop points more quickly. Furthermore, if we take into account that during this period of their life is when they will change all their baby teeth for adult ones, we will understand that the possibilities of dental abnormalities occurring in this age group increase greatly, as well as its consequences. It is advisable that these horses be examined twice a year, correcting any abnormalities that are found in time.
Finally, adult horses should undergo dental examinations at least once a year, whether or not they have evidence of dental problems. It is very important to keep the surface of the teeth that grind food as uniform as possible throughout the horse’s life, because when they reach their geriatric age (over twenty years) the teeth stop growing as they exhaust their reserve of dental crown, and If we wait until then, the surfaces may be excessively and/or unevenly worn, so trying to align them may be an impossible task. Therefore, geriatric horses should be examined every six to eight months, or more frequently depending on the dental alterations or pathologies they suffer from.
As a summary we can highlight the following points:
- The best medicine is that capable of preventing the appearance or development of pathologies, so in a good treatment plan Preventive medicine It is essential to care for and maintain the health of your horse.
- If a horse begins to have behavior problemsdental problems must be ruled out as a potential cause.
- Teeth should be examined, filed and kept in good condition by a veterinary professional at least annuallyor more frequently depending on your age and the dental pathologies you present.
- Wolf teeth are routinely extracted at an early age in competition horses to avoid interference with the bit and the pain associated with it.
- Sedation, local anesthesia and pain relievers They help the horse relax during therapeutic dental procedures, making them easier and making it possible to do good work. These drugs can only be administered by a veterinarian.
- Teeth that move are usually not healthy teethand will probably have to be removed, thus reducing the chances of infection and other related problems.
- canine teethgenerally present in adult males and some mares, They are filed, rounded and reduced in length to avoid interference with the bite.
- Depending on the horse’s oral and dental health status, The vet may need more than one visit to treat them properly..
- It is important discover dental problems early. If we wait too long, treatment will not only be more difficult and expensive, but it may become impossible.
