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Equine Dentistry
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thank you for visiting these pages and for showing
an interest in your horse’s dental needs. |
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| Home | Dental Care | About Jane | ||
| Your horses teeth |
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Horses teeth erupt at a rate of about 3mm per year and continue to do so until the horse reaches its mid twenties, when all of the reserve crown under the gum will have erupted and the teeth begin to fall out. If a horse has free access to pasture it will graze for approximately 12-14 hours per day. While chewing, the opposing tooth wears away a small amount of the tooth surface, maintaining balance and wear. This action naturally forms razor sharp enamel edges to the teeth. |
| How we have added to their dental problems |
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Recent studies have shown that up to 80% of all domestic horses have significant dental abnormalities compared to their wild counterparts. Through their domestication we have altered their grazing habits and diet. Grass in a natural habitat, has a much higher silicate content, which is far more abrasive than the farmed pasture of today. This affects the natural wear pattern of the teeth and so creates additional problems. Further dental abnormalities are caused through cross breeding horses with different sized heads and therefore jaw sizes. This can result in over-crowding and misaligned teeth. If a tooth is even partially unopposed, large overgrowths can form. If we consider that horses teeth grow around 3mm per year we can see how within a few years, unopposed teeth can become massively overgrown. Any protrusion on the surface of the teeth is not only very uncomfortable but it impedes the normal chewing action and can affect their digestion, (which can cause possible colic or weight loss). Compounding these problems we then put our horses in a bridle and bit which presses against these sharp structures, commonly causing cheek and tongue lacerations and ulceration. Overgrown teeth can restrict the lower jaw from dropping forward making it very difficult for any horse to work on the bit. We often demand a lot from our horses, of which they are usually very accepting, even when, sometimes, their mouths are suffering. They are trained to yield to the pressure of the reins and it is understandable that they can sometimes evade the pressure or become confused if it is associated with pain. With regular dental care your equine dental technician or vet, can remove sharp points, install a bit seat, (the rounding of the 2nd pre-molars which prevents the bit from pinching the soft tissue) rebalance the horse’s mouth and manage any abnormalities. You may save feed, see improved condition, enable optimum performance and give your horse a pain free mouth.
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| Useful Links |
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www.equinedentistry.info A very informative site by Hanne Engstrom, Veterinary Surgeon.
www.iaeqd.org The website of the International Association of Equine Dentistry (IAED).
www.amscheqdentistry.com The American School of Equine Dentistry. |
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Contact |
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If you have any concerns about your horse’s teeth please feel
free to contact me for advice.
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