Pet Dental Care

Horse Dental Problems & Solutions

Help stop pet dental pain

Annual Horse Dental Exams

Peak performance and harmony between horse and rider go hand in hand with regular dental care and attention to any developing problems before they become serious enough to affect the horse’s health or compromise its well-being.

The most important solution to horse dental problems is to make sure they get dental checkups. Annual dental checkups are vital for the health and overall well-being of your horse.

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Common Horse Dental Problems and Solutions

Incisor Smile

Problems: The smile abnormal wear restricts the jaw sideways movement, resulting in abnormal wear also in the cheek teeth.

Solution This abnormal wear, when mild, can be corrected by floating. However, floating on incisors should always be done with care. Also, the originating cause should be treated.

Incisor Frown

Problems: It causes similar problems in the cheek teeth as the smile does.

Solution: This abnormal wear will require a similar treatment as the smile

Sharp Enamel Points

Problems: These sharp enamel points can injure the soft tissues (cheeks and tongue), causing painful ulcers. This will cause discomfort and pain when chewing. Chewing is painful, and the normal sideways motion is not possible, causing abnormal wear on other teeth.

Solution: Float the horses teeth to remove the sharp enamel points. Also, introduce fibrous feed in the horse’s diet, such as hay and grass, to enforce the complete sideways chewing motion, to prevent the return of enamel points.

Hooks

Problems: Hooks will restrict the movement of the chewing process and thus impede the adequate grinding of feed. Can cause irregular wear on other teeth. When hooks become sharp, they will cause injury to the adjacent soft tissue. Performance issues when riding. Especially in the discipline of dressage, when the rider wants to collect the horse, which requires the poll’s flexing.

Solution: Usually, the hooks will need to be floated. The underlying causes (diet, overbites, underbites, or other malocclusion problems) should also be fixed whenever possible to prevent the reappearance of hooks.

Incisor Slant

Problems: The slanted mouth will also cause abnormal wear in the cheek teeth.

Solution: This abnormal wear can be corrected by floating, but leveling of the incisors needs to be carefully evaluated and the originating cause taken into account

Ramps

Problems: Restricted movement of the chewing process, impeding the adequate grinding of feed and causing irregular wear on other teeth. Can force the lower jaw forward, causing underbite. Although less common, ramps can also be present on the upper teeth and cause overbite. Similar performance issues as described for hooks.

Solution: Usually the ramp will need to be floated until the opposing tooth grows over time.

Wave Mouth

Problems: Excessive wear of some cheek teeth can go down to the gum line, causing gum injuries. Limited movement of the chewing process, with consequent difficulty in properly grinding feed. Additionally, this can cause further irregular wear. Performance issues when riding due to difficulty in sliding lower jaw when lowering the head.

Solution: Cutting or rasping the overgrown teeth to recover growth in opposing teeth. However, this condition can be difficult to fully correct and will require periodic maintenance.

Excessive Transverse Ridges

Problems: Difficulty in chewing food due to the restricted chewing movement (front to back movement of the lower jaw). Performance issues when riding due to inability to slide forward the lower jaw when lowering the head.

Solution: Reduce (float) the accentuated ridges to allow opposing teeth to recover from excessive wear. This may require two or three sessions to fully correct.

Shear Mouth

Problems: Chewing movement is seriously impeded, resulting in difficulty to grind and digest food. Injury to the adjacent soft tissue (tongue and cheek) caused by the very sharp edges of the teeth The excessive wear on the edges of the teeth can go all the way down to the gumline, causing gum injuries. Will cause a slant in the incisors as well..

Solution: Correction of the occlusal surface both on the affected cheek teeth and the incisors that were also affected. This correction will require several interventions over time.

Retained Caps

Problems: When these caps are retained, the permanent teeth cannot push through resulting in two possible conditions: 1)Tooth displacement – the tooth will erupt in a displaced position 2)Tooth impaction – the tooth cannot erupt, causing dental cysts, often referred to as tooth bumps in the upper and/or lower jaws. Retained caps are painful for the horse and can result in inflammation and infection. When these caps are broken and become lodged between teeth, this may result in soft tissue injuries.

Solution: Usually in these cases the problematic caps are removed by a qualified veterinarian. This is why seeing the veterinarian once a year is so important! It's the only way to stop these problems before they get really bad.

Horse Dental Diseases

Problems: When the cementum starts to decompose, the tooth will become weakened and tend to fracture. In peripheral caries, when the cementum layer has gone, the underlying layer of enamel is not as smooth and will lacerate the surrounding tissues (gums and tongue). The gaps left from the destroyed cementum will fill up with food that will decay and lead to infection, such as periodontal disease and pulp infection. The weakened tooth will also wear away faster, leading to missing teeth at an earlier age.

Solution: The best solution is prevention by having regular dental checks, just like we do. This will allow to detect caries in the early stages, which can be fixed by putting a fill in the tooth. In more advanced cases where caries have led to secondary problems such as fractures, pulp infections, and periodontal disease. These will need to be treated.

Horse Periodontal Disease

Problems: Due to the periodontal pocket opening, the tooth is no longer secure, which can lead to its displacement. As the disease progresses down the tooth, it can eventually lead to tooth loss. When the disease has progressed down the tooth, an apical abscess can develop. When this happens in the upper cheek teeth, it can lead to infection of the sinuses. When the gums bleed, the bacteria can enter the horse’s bloodstream and travel to other parts of the body, causing additional infections.

Solution: The first step is to clean the trapped food from the tooth and control the bacteria to prevent further disease progression and destruction of the periodontium. This may require several interventions until the infection is resolved. The gaps that allow entrapment of food should be treated: 1) Diastema should be widened to allow the food to pass through without getting trapped 2) Periodontal pockets should be cleaned and bleed to stimulate the formation of new tissue to fill the pocket. Dental overgrowths and malocclusions can be an important contributor to periodontal disease. In these cases, their correction should be part of the treatment. If the disease has progressed too far, then the tooth may need to be extracted. This is why annual horse dental checkups are so important! Seeing the veterinarian once a year is the only way to stop this disease before it gets really bad.

Teething Bumps In Horses

Problems: Sometimes these bumps grow larger and become tender and hot, which means an apical infection has occurred.

Solution: Usually, the problem will correct itself as the permanent teeth gradually force their way up (when the retained cap has fallen or the jaw grows longer, leaving room for the new tooth). The bumps will eventually disappear. However if an infection has set in it should be treated by the veterinary. When possible the causing problem should also be fixed such as removing the retained cap.

Displacements In Horse’s Teeth

Problems: The displaced tooth may grow either towards the inside of the mouth, causing injuries to the tongue, or grow towards the outside, causing injuries on the cheeks. Presence of a space (diastema) between the displaced tooth and the adjacent teeth. This causes food to get trapped in these spaces leading to gum diseases. Overgrowth of the opposing tooth due to missing contact because the displaced tooth is not aligned in the arcade. This will result in a stepped mouth. When the disease has progressed down the tooth, an apical abscess can develop. When this happens in the upper cheek teeth, it can lead to infection of the sinuses. When the gums bleed, the bacteria can enter the horse’s bloodstream and travel to other parts of the body, causing additional infections.

Solution: If the cause of displacement is the retained deciduous tooth, then its removal should be considered. If the displacement is causing severe problems that cannot be corrected, then the displaced tooth’s extraction may be necessary. This is usually only performed in older horses.

Teeth Diastema In Horses

Problems: Food gets easily trapped in these gaps, especially in the case of closed diastema. The food will then quickly decay and create gum infection (periodontal disease). This can be very painful for the horse and lead to quidding and foul-smelling mouth.

Solution: The first action is to remove the trapped food. Next there are several options which include: 1) Widening the diastema to allow the food to move in and out of the gap without getting trapped easily. 2) Place a dental impression putty into the gap to close it and allow healing of the gum. 3) Fix the source of the problem, such as removing the displaced tooth. 4) Reduce overgrowth of opposing teeth.

Congenital Teeth Disorders In Horses

Problems: This condition refers to Parrot-Mouth (Overbite) And Sow-Mouth (Underbite). The main problem from parrot-mouth and sow-mouth is abnormal teeth wear:1) Overgrowth of the incisors (because they have no occlusal contact) which causes ulcerations on the opposite side of the mouth. 2) Overgrowth of cheek teeth such as hooks or ramps.

Parrot-mouth – hooks/ramps on second upper premolars and third lower molars.
Sow-mouth – hooks/ramps on second lower premolars and third upper molars.

Solution: Floating the overgrown teeth. Orthodontic correction in severe cases, but is only effective when the horse is still young.

Fractured Teeth In Horses

Problems: Small fractures that do not go beyond the gumline may not cause any problems. However, the fractured tooth’s sharp edges may cause injuries to the surrounding soft tissues (gums, tongue). The opposing tooth may overgrow into the void left by the fractured tooth (step mouth). Bigger fractures may involve deeper structures of the tooth (pulp cavities) and lead to bacterial infection of the tooth.

Solution: The treatment will depend on the severity of the fracture and the underlying disease. The fractures can be treated by removing the small pieces or floating the sharp edges. The length of the opposing tooth may also need to be shortened. Sometimes it is necessary to remove the tooth

Missing Teeth In Horses

Problems: A missing tooth can lead to: 1) Abnormal wear patterns, such as step or wave mouth due to the overgrowth of the opposing tooth and adjacent teeth that usually move into the space left by the missing tooth, causing a misalignment of the upper and lower arcades. 2) Pain and Infection can develop in the gum due to the pressure made by the opposing overgrown tooth, and that the empty tooth socket will trap food, which decays and causes infection.

Solution: A missing horse tooth is a condition that cannot be fully treated, but it needs to be managed. Adapt the horse’s diet, so the horse is not so dependent on the chewing process to digest the food. Regular dental appointments to detect and treat any secondary problems caused by missing teeth: 1) Fix abnormal wear patterns. 2) Treat any infections developed in the tooth socket.

Supernumerary Teeth

Problems: Supernumerary teeth can cause displacements leading to diastema and periodontal disease due to food trapping. Overgrowths will occur in teeth that do not have occlusal contact. Which can cause injuries to the tongue and cheek.

Solution: When possible the extra teeth should be extracted to allow the other teeth to erupt and align correctly. Secondary problems, such as overgrowth, a diastema, and periodontal disease should be treated.

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Sadly most horse owners still don’t even know that their horses need dental care or that they are suffering from constant pain. Help us spread the word about the importance of horse dental care. Help stop horse dental pain!

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