Dental Care For Your Horse

General Information

Dental care is an important part of horse management. Problems are best prevented by dental examination once or twice a year.
The teeth of horses continually grow throughout the animal’s life.  As the horse chews, the teeth can wear abnormally and sharp points, hooks, and other abnormalities can form.  Teeth can become broken and even become loose and fall out.  Loose teeth often become infected and painful.  Tooth abcesses form around the roots of these infected teeth.  Sharp points form on the cheek (buccal) surface of the upper molars and the tongue (lingual) surface of the lower teeth.
Dental problems can lead to eating difficulties, unwillingness to accept the bit, mouth injuries or sinus infections. 

Signs of dental disease include:

•  weight loss
•  difficulty chewing or chewing sideways
•  dropping partially chewed wads of hay or grass (quidding)
• head tossing during riding
• nasal disharge
• facial swelling
• lots of unchewed whole pieces of grain in the manure

Teeth can be used to estimate a horse’s age. However, certain dental problems, such as malocclusion (upper and lower teeth do not meet), broken teeth and abnormal wear (as from cribbing), can make it difficult to estimate a horse’s age.

To do a quick examination of horse’s teeth:

Lift the upper lip and observe the gums and upper incisors. This is also where lip tattoos are located and where you can assess your horse’s membrane color.
Pull down the lower lip with one hand and use the other hand to pull out the corner of the mouth. Observe the first few molars for hooks and points. These teeth generally reflect the state of the other molars; however, serious problems can be present in the back of the mouth that are not visible unless a full mouth speculum is used. 

Important Points in Treatment

Floating: A horse’s teeth periodically need to be filed or "floated" to remove sharp points on the outside edges of the upper molars and inside edges of the lower molars. The average horse requires floating at once a year or every other year. To prevent injury to the checks and tongue. “Hooks” on mismatched teeth may need to be cut and smoothed.  Broken or loose teeth
may need to be pulled.  Most horses will need to be sedated for this procedure. 

Wolf Teeth: Wolf teeth are the rudimentary first upper premolars located near the large upper second premolars. These first appear in late yearlings. Bitting problems are more likely if the wolf teeth are small and loose. Wolf teeth removal is relatively simple.  Wolf teeth are commonly confused with canine teeth. 

Canine teeth: These are the larger teeth located in the bars of the mouth that males have for fighting.  Canine teeth erupt around 5 years of age.  Mares generally do not have these teeth and they are usually not floated, though they can become sharp.   

Tartar: Accumulations of hard, yellow-brown tartar or calculus around the base of the teeth should be periodically removed to prevent gum disease and tooth  loss. Tartar usually accumulates around the canine teeth and occasionally the incisors.  It is easily removed without sedation. 

Infection: Infection of an upper tooth can spread to the bony compartment between the roof of the mouth and the eye (maxillary sinus), causing sinus infection and pain, and a discharge from one nostril. Infection of a lower tooth can cause swelling along the jaw bone. Horses with tooth infection may have a unpleasant “rotten” odor about the mouth or emanating from the nostril
on the same side as the sinus infection. These teeth can abcess and drain out the upper or lower jaw as well the nose if an upper tooth root abcess ruptures into a sinus cavity. Surgical removal of abcessed teeth is often necessary and may be referred for surgical intervention.

Malocclusion: When a tooth is missing, the tooth in the opposite arcade continues to grow and may require periodic cutting or floating to prevent mouth injury and to allow normal chewing.

Feed retention: Occasionally a horse retains feed in its mouth between the teeth and cheek. This packed accumulation of feed can be a result of sharp points on the molars and can be an indicator of teeth needing to be floated.

We recommend a dental examination every 6-12 months.

Call Our Office If:
You have any questions concerning your horse’s dental health.
If your horse is showing any of the problems listed above.