Equine Dental Care

form on the horses cheek teeth usually on the outside of their upper teeth or on the inside of their lower teeth. These sharp edges can injure the soft tissue of the cheeks.
During your regular dental checkup the dental therapist cleans your teeth but the primary goal is for the dentist to have a good look at your mouth. Its the same for us. I check that mouth backwards and forward and I spend more time on my oral exam than I do on actually rasping the teeth.
Miniature horses tend to have more oral health problems because of their smaller mouths but otherwise Carmalt says there are no specific dental issues associated with specific breeds. 
However performance animals particularly because of the way theyre managed may end up having more dental problems.
The good Lord designed horses so that if you feed them longstemmed fibre or hay or you keep them extensively out on the grass youll have fewer problems than if you have them in a barn says Carmalt.
For one thing when they chew the grass or hay the lower jaw is moving so much more and its lateral motion knocks off those sharp edges that often require floating. 
Over the last 10 years information about equine dental care has grown in leaps and bounds with countless new publications about basic anatomy and physiology endodontics and periodontics. And as horse owners realize the significance of oral health to their horses overall health and performance theyre more likely to seek dental care. 
Carmalt emphasizes the importance of consulting veterinarians who have background training in anatomy and physiology as well as access to the sedative drugs necessary for them to perform the full mouth oral exam with all of the required equipment. 
Were learning more and more so we can give the best possible care says Carmalt. Sometimes Ill look in a horses mouth and find out that things are great. Thats not wasted money and time. Thats an investment. And if I do find something that needs to be fixed now its going to be a heck of a lot cheaper and more successful if I deal with it now and not in five years.