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Signs of Dental Problems
The most common sign of dental disease is a normal horse!!!
Horses can be very stoic and will usually show no signs of
dental disease until the problem is advanced.
I often hear, " My horse eats fine!," and
most owners assume that his/her horse has no dental problems until the
horse has difficulty chewing or starts dropping feed.
We must remember that horses are Prey Animals, and prey animals hide
pain in fear of predation. (On Animal Planet, everyone has seen
the lion pride selectively target the weak zebra.) Eating is a survival
skill!
As mentioned
previously, dentistry should be planned as a part of your horse's
routine preventative care, and annual examination is warranted to
prevent problems from starting.
If you see "signs" of dental problems, your horse needs care
immediately!
The following are some of the Signs of Advanced Dental
Disease:
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Dropping Food.
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Chewing on one side of mouth.
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Quidding (spitting out wet balls of hay).
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Long Stem Feces or Undigested Grain in Feces.
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Weight Loss.
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Colic.
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Foul odor from mouth or nose.
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Facial Swelling.
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Quidding:
As a horse chews food, the ridges on the roof of its mouth
(palatal ridges) auger the food toward the back of the oral
cavity. Normally the cheek teeth are grinding the food
into small particles as the food bolus moves towards the
back of the mouth, and the bolus is swallowed.
Horses, that have severe dental
malocclusions which render the cheek teeth
nonfunctional, are unable to grind their food into small
particles; therefore, they can not swallow the bolus, and
the quid is spit out. Quids are most easily
identified as spirals of unchewed hay in senior horses.
A typical presentation of a quidding horse
is a pile of tossed hay from which numerous quids can be
removed. Abundant saliva may also be found in the hay
pile since the horse will hypersalivate as it desperately,
but unsuccessfully, tries to eat the forage. |
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Long Stem
Feces: A horse with normal dentition will grind
all forage into food particles less than 3/8" in length.
Horses with feces containing forage stems
great than 3/8" in length, or containing whole grain, are
not appropriately grinding food. This is a clear
indication of severe cheek teeth malocclusions.
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Weight Loss
secondary to dental disease is not a problem limited to
senior horses. This 5 year old TN Walking Horse
mare presented 3 weeks after foaling for repeated colic
episodes and significant weight loss (200 lbs. estimated).
This young mare had severe cheek teeth
malocclusions in her left arcade. Note the step molar
which was erupting into the void caused by a missing upper
molar.
With poor dentition, she was unable to
meet both her nutritional needs as well as the lactational
needs of her foal. |
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Softening
feed? A teenage mare with periodontal disease was
noted to soak her hay in the feed bucket before eating it.
I can not scientifically state that this habit was a
reaction to dental disease; however, other owners have also
described similar behavior in horses with chewing
difficulty. |
Facial Swellings/ Abnormalities:
Dental Disease should be definitely ruled out (or diagnosed) for all
cases involving facial abnormalities in horses.
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Food
Pocketing: Horses are not chipmunks, and food pocketing
usually indicates dental disease.
This sorrel mare
suffers from Periodontal Disease.
This gray mare is missing a cheek tooth.
Eruption Bumps: Dental cysts are normal findings
in 3 to 4 year old horses, especially short-faced
breeds (eg. Arabs, Pasos, Minis); however, these swellings
should be palpated regularly to ensure that they are not
painful or hot. If they become painful or hot
immediate dental examination is warranted!
A painful or hot eruption cyst usually
indicates that a adult cheek tooth is not erupting properly,
and the sequella to this maleruption is often a tooth root
abscess with an associated mandibular fistula.
This painful dental disease often requires
surgery to resolve.
This picture shows a Persistent Mandibular Fistula in
a teenage Arab mare, who had several years of behavioral
problems until the associated infected tooth was extracted.
Now several years psot-extraction she is pleasant and
biddable.
Maxillary Swelling in the
adolescent horse (3 to 4 year old) almost always indicates
an adult cheek tooth maleruption problem. Immediate
dental examination is warranted!
Failure to correct a maxillary adult cheek tooth maleruption
can cause a tooth root abscess with an associated
Maxillary Fistula, which usually will not resolve
without surgical intervention.
Nasal Discharge: Tooth infection
with a secondary sinus infection is the most common cause
of a unilateral purulent nasal discharge. |
Behavioral/ Riding Problems caused by Dental Disease:
Minor malocclusions of the teeth and sharp enamel points
can cause severe pain in the bitted horse, especially if the horse is
required to collect its head. Malocclusions can lock the jaw
causing pain in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). Continued pressure on
the TMJ will radiate pain down the horse's neck and back.
(Documented cases of hind leg lameness have been corrected with dental
care.)
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