Page 39 - New Mexico Horse Breeder Summer 2018

“Then, you need to have a good examination of the horse—looking at his head and the muscles of mastication—making sure his head and muscles are symmetrical on both sides with no neurological deficits. A trained, experienced practitioner can do this in a matter of seconds, but it’s something that needs to be observed,” says Easley.
“It’s important to evaluate the skeletal structure of the head to make sure the jaw bones look and feel the same on both sides and that they are lined up straight. You want to
be sure that the temporomandibular joints are symmetrical—the same size and conformation on both sides of the head,” he says.
“Then, I usually stick my hand in the horse’s mouth and have him chew a little bit so I can tell if everything is functioning normally. We also look at the incisor teeth to make sure they are lined up well and are appropriate for the horse’s age. Some horses will have excessive wear, damage, or disease in the front teeth. We need to make sure those teeth are healthy. We age a horse by the teeth, but some horses’ teeth don’t match their age and have different wear patterns,” says Easley.
He also checks the health of the gums, lips, cheeks and tongue. Most of this can
be done before the horse’s mouth is opened. “We part the lips and look at the front of his mouth. Then, we proceed to an oral exam and at that point, we usually sedate the horse. Most horses need to be sedated before you can do a complete exam inside the mouth. An unsedated horse will resist. You want them to be relaxed so you can get the mouth open and get your hand inside the mouth. You want the horse to be cooperative and very still so you can do a thorough exam,” he says.
Typically, the horse is sedated and the practitioner uses a speculum to hold the mouth open. “Then we can put a light inside the mouth, see the oral cavity and dental arcades, and feel the teeth and all the soft tissue structures. We can make sure everything is symmetrical, with no damaged teeth that cause uneven wear, no loose teeth and no soft-tissue lacerations in the cheeks or tongue. At that point, if we find anything that looks or feels abnormal in the mouth, we look at that a bit closer,” he says.
“When doing an oral exam, we need a
good light, a speculum, and dental mirror that allows us to look at the back of the mouth and the top teeth. There are long-handled dental mirrors we use on horses that enable us to push the cheeks and tongue out of the way for good visualization. You can’t look at the occlusal surface of a tooth by just looking into the mouth. You need a mirror to be able to look at the chewing surface of the tooth,” he says.
“We use periodontal probes and picks to go back into the mouth and evaluate pockets, gum attachments, etc. As you might see in your dentist’s office, there are some special
The horse is typically sedated for a dental exam and a speculum is used to hold the mouth open. A light helps to see the oral cavity, dental arcades, teeth and all soft tissue structures, which are checked
by hand to make sure everything is symmetrical, with no damaged or loose teeth and no soft-tissue lacerations in the cheeks or tongue.
instruments that we use to probe around the teeth, check any periodontal pockets, and look for defects in the crowns. Most equine practitioners now have these tools.”
Some horses have abnormal crowns or
an elongated tooth—a tall tooth. “When people talk about floating teeth, you need to remember that the only thing you can do with a float is reduce the crown on the tall tooth. You can’t add any crown or repair any damage; all you can do is rasp it down,” he explains.
“Any time there’s a tall tooth, keep in mind that it’s a normal tooth. The pathology is not in that tooth; it is always in the opposite tooth. The reason the horse has a tall tooth is that the opposite tooth is either broken, damaged, worn out or diseased to the point that it doesn’t provide anything for the tall tooth to wear against. The pathology might be due to an asymmetrical jaw (the sides are not the same length) or a damaged tooth somewhere in the opposite arcade,” says Easley.
“In the past 20 years, we’ve begun to change our thinking about equine dentistry. It
“Some horses fuss and resist when you try
to bridle them because they don’t want the bit in their mouth. They are trying to tell us that they have a problem.”
SUMMER 2018 37