Page 40 - New Mexico Horse Breeder Summer 2018

. . . the most important part of dentistry is having a complete oral examination done before you simply have the teeth floated.
used to be that we simply floated horses’ teeth and really never thought about why we did
it. All we had was a float, so all we could do was reduce the tall tooth. Now, we realize that dental disease is not tall teeth; the problem is in the tooth that is damaged opposite the tall tooth,” he explains.
When horses have bitting issues, it’s usually not the tall tooth that is causing the problem. “Often the issue is excessively worn or fractured, damaged or diseased teeth in the opposite arcade. Now, we try to concentrate more on those teeth. We may be dealing with a horse with a periodontal pocket or a cracked crown and a painful tooth, or he’s packing food in the gums and causing irritation and gum disease. There are many reasons why a horse might be uncomfortable in his mouth,” Easley says.
“The elongated tooth might be limiting the movement of his jaws. Either he can’t
Floating teeth will reduce the crown on a tall tooth - you can’t add crown or repair damage, all you can do is rasp the tooth down.
chew normally or maybe he can’t flex his head normally. When a horse closes his mouth and raises his head or lowers it, the bottom jaw moves. The bottom jaw moves forward when he lowers his head, and moves back when the head is elevated.” It must be able to have some backward and forward movement for the horse to be able to move his head appropriately.
Sometimes an elongated tooth due to a jaw malocclusion catches on the opposing teeth and limits that back-and-forth movement of the jaw. “If that’s the case, reducing the elongations by floating the teeth will help with freeing up the jaw. But, you have to get the mouth opened up and identify where the elongation is and then appropriately reduce the elongated portion of that tooth so you can unlock the jaw so it will have its normal range of motion.”
Radiographs
To make a diagnosis of any dental problem, you have to be able to get the mouth opened up so you can see and feel inside the mouth. “If you look into the mouth, you can only see about 1/4 inch of the teeth; most of the tooth is below the gums in the jawbone. Sometimes we need to take x-rays, which can be very helpful in diagnosing what is going on with the rest
of the tooth and why there is a problem. An elongated tooth has not been worn down properly, and this could be because it is malformed or malpositioned, or because
the opposite tooth is damaged. Thus, x-rays are very helpful in determining why the elongation has occurred,” says Easley.
“This can help us design a plan for fixing the problem and then maintaining the horse throughout the rest of his life. Most of these issues keep recurring unless we address the root of the problem. You can float the teeth and take down the elongation, but this is just a temporary fix. The elongation will come back unless you fix the actual problem. Thus, we need to diagnose why the problem is there and get a plan for maintaining that horse,” he says.
“Radiographs are the most common
type of imaging we use when diagnosing dental issues. The digital x-rays make this
a lot easier; we can take these at the farm, look at them there and make a diagnosis.
It’s much more common now to take x-rays than it used to be when we had to go back to the clinic, develop the x-rays—and possibly return to the farm to take more if those didn’t turn out. Now, we can look at the x-rays right at the horse’s side and the owner can be there viewing them, too, and see what the problem is. This aspect of diagnosis is much better than it used to be.”
Signs Of Dental Problems
The pain from a dental issue can change a horse’s behavior and hinder performance. A dental problem should be suspected if the horse shows any acute change when
bitted, such as tossing his head or fussing with the bit, and the horse has some obvious discomfort or frustration. “Something has changed dramatically over a short time, and this could indicate a mouth problem. Other clues would be blood in the mouth or an abnormal odor or discharge,” Easley says.
“We also see subtle clues in certain cases, like a horse that begins to shake his head. Different horses respond to pain a little differently. We see all kinds of behavioral issues. 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. Horses can only show us their pain by the way they behave.”
The horse may suddenly show signs of aggravation or refusal to do things he used
to do. If the horse is acting frustrated and grumpy you need to find out what’s wrong. There are many things that could cause a change in behavior, but dental problems could be the issue. Without a good oral exam, and sometimes x-rays, you won’t know. We need to find out what’s bothering the horse, and we can’t just float these problems away.
38 New Mexico Horse Breeder