Page 142 - January 2022

VETERINARY VIEWS
IMPORTANCE OF DENTAL CARE
FOR NUTRITIONAL EFFICIENCY
AND PERFORMANCE
by Nancy S. Loving, DVM
140 SPEEDHORSE January 2022
Not only is an adequate supply of food Insufficient grinding of fiber and grains causes
necessary to maintain a horse’s body
condition, but the teeth must be able to properly grind the feed to make full use of the diet you provide. Horses with poor teeth often need extra food to obtain sufficient calories to maintain body weight. Teeth in poor condition cause horses to take longer to chew food; if fed in a group, all food may be consumed before a slower eater has time to eat a daily requirement. Athletic horses require additional energy to sus- tain performance, and they especially need to make their calories count. Broodmares in the last trimester of gestation or during lactation also have intense energy demands and need to make efficient use of their feed.
Horses that fail to gain weight or experience unusual weight loss may have dental concerns at the heart of the problem.
A horse with worn incisors is often less efficient in obtaining nutrients from pasture. Sharp points and edges on the molar teeth
may create painful ulcers in a horse’s mouth that discourage eating even in the face of plenty. Loss of one or more grinding molar teeth prevents efficient chewing, eventually leading to development of a wave mouth – this develops from overgrowth of one or more teeth on the bearing surface opposite to a missing tooth. An irregular contact surface between the upper and lower molars compromises a horse’s ability to chew or grind feed. Grass
or hay material may ball up in the side of the mouth where it lodges along the gums or is spit out as a big wad – this is called quidding. Such balls of poorly chewed food are not easily swallowed and may cause an esophageal choke.
feed material to pass through the digestive tract without efficient extraction of nutrients. Even
in the presence of adequate feed, a horse with poor dentition may develop a nutritional deficit. It is common to see coarse, fibrous material and undigested grain in the feces of a horse with poor teeth. Inadequately ground feed material also has the potential to irritate the gastrointestinal tract to elicit diarrhea; this further accelerates loss of fluids, nutrients, and electrolytes.
There are many signs that can tip you off to dental problems or inadequate grinding:
• Persistent weight loss despite availability of
an adequate quantity and quality of food. • Pain in the mouth may cause excessive
salivation and drooling.
• Quidding.
• Elimination of whole grains or large pieces
of roughage (greater than 1⁄4-inch pieces)
in Intermittent or chronic diarrhea due to irritation of the bowel lining by inadequately ground feed.
• Extended time to eat a meal.
• Odd head, neck, or jaw movements in an
effort to relieve discomfort while eating.
• Bad breath from a rotten tooth or impacted
and decaying food material.
• A unilateral nasal discharge from a sinus
infection related to a diseased tooth.
• Asymmetry of the chewing muscles of the
jaw due to long-term mouth disease.
• Chronic choke (esophageal obstruction). • Chronic colic, particularly gaseous or
impaction colic, due to irritation of the bowel lining or obstruction of the intestines with feed material.
A horse with worn incisors is often less efficient in obtaining nutrients from pasture.
Sharp points and edges on molar teeth may create painful ulcers in a horse’s mouth that discourage eating.