Part Two: How to Care for Your Horse's Teeth

Last week I wrote about dentistry for young horses and some signs of trouble. This week I will touch on maturing and aging horses.

Young horses have baby teeth just like people, but that’s where the similarity ends. As horses mature their teeth grow continually. Older horses can have dental issues that you may not be aware of. 

Uneven wearing of teeth can lead to the upper and lower teeth not fitting together well, also referred to as malocclusion. This is due to irregular tooth height,  commonly referred to as hooks, ramps, waves, etc.  Malocclusion can cause pressure or stress on the temporal-mandibular joint (TMJ) which causes pain much like a headache. So between the sharp enamel points that ulcerate the horses' cheeks and the malocclusion that creates TMJ pain, it is recommended that each horse get complete dentistry at least once a year as they age.    

If you see your horse spitting out food, salivating excessively, or chewing in a way that looks not quite right, she may need some dental help. Don’t get me wrong, some horses spit out food and/or salivate excessively and that’s just the way they eat. My old boy, an Arabian gelding, looks like a rabid mess with all that green foam dripping from his face and spit flinging everywhere at dinner. I’ve had his teeth checked over and over and that is just the way he looks when he eats. It’s gross, but funny! No dental issues, just a messy eater. 

Behavior or performance issues can be an indication of dental problems. They include not wanting to take the bit in their mouth, keeping their mouth open while riding, not wanting to turn, tilting or turning their head, not collecting, refusing to take a gait and just refusing period. If your horse gradually begins to mouth the bit or avoid it all together this could be an indication that she has pain in her mouth. Is she tossing or throwing her head? Does she do everything she can to stop you from placing the bit in her mouth? When you ride does she fiddle and push the bit around in her mouth, and she “never did this before”? Sometimes dental problems present as behavioral problems. Not always of course; behavioral issues occur for many reasons but it never hurts to have someone look at the molars you can’t see in that big, deep horsey mouth. 

Pain hurts and if people don’t get the little clues, the clues will get bigger, bigger and bigger, even bucking, kicking or striking. 

During my discussion with veterinary assistant Christine Griffin, who specializes in teeth, she said that as horses get older, the size of the tooth root gets smaller. This gives the older horses problems like loose teeth, food getting packed between the teeth at the gum line, causing periodontal disease, and many times the teeth fracture. When they have very little root left holding the tooth in the gum, the enamel is also gone, causing the tooth to become more fragile or brittle. With the pressure of chewing, the teeth crack and many times the fracture causes pain if the fractured pieces aren’t removed.

It is recommended that older horses have their dentistry done twice a year as a precautionary measure and to help prevent colic caused by poorly chewed roughage. Food packing between the teeth and periodontal disease can cause teeth to loosen and make it difficult for the horse to chew properly. Likewise the food rots, growing bacteria that can cause the teeth to abscess. It is really common for alfalfa stems to get stuck between teeth. Bad breath is one of the common symptoms of food rotting when it gets stuck between teeth.

It's kind of like a piece of popcorn getting stuck between your tooth and gum. You know how irritating it can be.  

Horses with canine teeth, pointy teeth that grow between the incisors (front teeth) and molars along the bars of the mouth are prone to getting tartar on them, especially the lower canines. If the tartar isn’t removed it will accumulate more and more and pretty soon it looks like a ball of tartar around the tooth. This tartar also gets between the tooth and the gum causing bacteria to inflame the gum tissue, causing cavities and eventually the tooth can become abscessed and need removal. It's very obvious, ugly and right in the front where you can see it.   

I asked Griffin about wild horses because my mustang Cricket has beautiful teeth. She said, "People do ask 'How come wild horses don’t have these problems?'  The simple answer is that wild horses eat 16-18 hours a day with their heads down and eat thistles, grasses fresh from the ground, chew on branches and even rocks."

Cricket used to try to eat dirt when she was younger and out on trail rides!

"The additional chewing action, ability to eat with their head down and the wide variety of roughage they consume keep their teeth in better balance with fewer malocclusions," Griffin said. "If wild horses lived as long as domestic horses they would have the same geriatric dental issues."  

Malocclusions can cause the TMJ to be out of balance, which in turn can cause the horse to compensate for the pain through poor posture. This compensation starts at their pole (top of their head between the ears) and can go along their spine, their shoulders and hips, right down to the angle and shape of their hooves, affecting both their muscular and skeletal systems. This can cause lameness and the inability for the horse to move normally and without pain. If you put the restriction of a saddle and weight of a rider on,  you’ve just added to the problem. 

Griffin told me, "Rubbing a finger along a cheek tooth or grabbing the tongue to open the mouth and taking a peak at the teeth in the front of the mouth (the only ones you can see without a bright light) are not the way to determine if a horse needs dentistry.  The complexities of equine dentistry are a specialty that are not part of the standard veterinary education and require a lot more than just “floating” the sharp points from teeth."

This makes sense to me, as I have tried to look at my horses' teeth, which is impossible by the way,  and can only see the few in the front.

Don’t worry, there are many equine dental professionals that can assist you in caring for your horse. Veterinarians (DVM) sometimes provide dental care or can at least give you an initial summation of any issues and may provide referrals to other dental providers in your area. Not all dental providers are veterinarians but many work with a DVM in order to provide the best care for your equine. Do a little homework and ask horse owners you trust about who they use. Ask them what they might do, and look into what, if any, dental care your horse may benefit from. A happy horse makes for a lovely ride. 

Complete annual dentistry will reduce pain, assist digestion thereby reducing colic (saving money) and increase the nutrients to the body thus reducing the quantity of food (saving money). It also will help eliminate lameness and performance issues (saving money), keep the teeth healthy during the senior years (saving money) and keep your horse happy. Did I mention saving money?  Which will keep you happy!