Why does my horse need a dental every year?
For many owners keeping a horse can feel like an endless list of appointments. You basically become your horses personal assistant! Between the farrier the vet and the physiotherapist we can easily spend many hours and many hundreds of pounds each year just trying to keep them healthy. His dental care is yet another appointment on that expensive list so why is it so important?
Horses are hypsodonts and brachydonts!
So just like in humans horses should have regular dental checkups to make sure theres no sign of any nasties like caries developing. However this is only one part of the story. Horses are hypsodonts this means that they have huge teeth with very long enamel crowns that extend way down below the gum line. This is called the reserve crown. Over time the surface of the teeth is worn away by chewing. More of the tooth below the gum line erupts to maintain the normal tooth length they erupt at a rate of about 2mm per year. Over the length of the life of the horse the crown can get used up leaving no further to erupt. So older horses can suffer with problems like loose teeth tooth loss and malocclusions as a result.
The horses mouth
The horses upper jaw is wider than its lower jaw. This is important for chewing long grasses and hay efficiently. But it can mean that overgrowths of enamel form in the areas where there is less contact between the teeth.
What happens during the dental exam?
During the dental exam the horses head will be examined first for symmetry and lumps or bumps. And youll be asked about his eating habits exercise behaviour diet any nasal discharge and so
