Horses can suffer from dental problems that are due to heredity as well as everyday wear and tear. Both of these situations need to be addressed to relieve pain and ensure adequate nutrition. Dental problems also occur due to age and injury.
Congenital Dental Problems
Horses can inherit several dental conditions including parrot mouth, or teeth that are over or undershot. A horse with a parrot mouth has an upper jaw that is longer than the lower one. These horses cannot graze properly but can usually chew hay and grain just fine. A horse that is overshot has upper incisors that are slightly in front of the lower ones, but still in contact. An undershot horse is the opposite, where the lower incisors protrude in front of the upper ones.
Dental Problems from Wear
As a horse’s teeth wear down from use many develop sharp points on their molars. These can occur at any age. Symptoms can include a reluctance to take the bit, dropping incompletely chewed food from their mouth while eating, and possible colic due to insufficiently chewed food. These sharp points can be removed by rasping the teeth. Horses should be checked by a veterinarian for these points at least once a year.
Age Related Dental Problems
There are several dental problems that are related to the age of the horse. A horse’s molar teeth are continuously pushed further and further out from the jaw which can result in pain and lost teeth in the horse’s late years. The teeth can also develop a wave pattern at the spot where the upper and lower teeth meet, as opposed to a relatively straight line. Any of these situations, including lost teeth, can result in a horse that is difficult to keep at proper weight.
Tooth Abscesses
A tooth abscess in a horse is a very serious matter because they often occur in an upper molar tooth whose roots are buried in the large cavities or sinuses above the teeth. These cavities can become filled with pus even before symptoms become obvious. To treat an abscess, antibiotics are necessary but will not complete the job. Often even if the bacteria are killed the pus will remain. This means that the tooth will have to be pulled to allow it to drain. Pulling an upper molar tooth is a serious matter requiring general anesthesia.
Wolf Teeth
Wolf teeth are very small molar teeth that are located in front of the permanent molar teeth. They usually appear when the horse is between the ages of three and four and can be quite painful, especially when the horse has the bit in its mouth. Removal of these teeth is easy enough, requiring the horse to simply be sedated, although complications can occur.
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