Always look a gift horse in the mouth

By Jennifer Kunz, AnimalForum.com staff

Dr. Tom Allen knows horses. He's a graduate of the University of Missouri at Columbia and worked with a lot of horses in the first 22 years of his career. Then in 1995 he attended a horse dentistry conference and "saw the light" as he calls it. He recognized that horse dentistry was a specialty and something more than the "two-finger float" with a bucket, two rasps and a single finger checking the teeth was required to keep horses healthy. He hasn't looked back since and has been "preaching this stuff like a religious fanatic evangelist ever since."

Question: How old should a horse be before its first dental exam?

Answer: The mouth should be examined for dental purposes as soon as possible after birth. Even though there may not be any teeth through the gums for the first few days, jaw alignment should be ascertained ASAP for nursing purposes.

Q: How often should teeth be checked after the first exam?

A: Checking teeth involves use of a full-mouth speculum and sedation. Anything less is inadequate. This needs to be done every six months if we want to prevent sharp points digging into cheeks. Not all horses will have the points that soon, but more than half of them will.

Q: Do wolf teeth always cause problems?

A: No generalization is worth a hoot, including this one, but enough wolf teeth cause problems that it is recommended by most equine dental practitioners to remove them when one finds them.

Q: Do mares and geldings both get wolf teeth?

A: Yes, they do. Most wolf teeth are in the upper row of teeth, just in front of the first large cheek teeth, but a few horses have them in the lower row. Not all horses get them, but a high percentage do.

Q: At what age should wolf teeth be removed?

A: When we see them, which is usually by a year of age.

Q: What is the most common problem you see in horse's teeth?

A: Sharp points on the cheek teeth, beginning at six months of age, gouging ulcerations [shallow holes] which allow bacteria and toxins into the horse's system 24 hours per day for years, shortening the life of the animal.

Q: Are there any particular bits or headgear that cause damage to a horse's teeth? Other than damage from severe use of any equipment?

A: Even though some bits look terrible, if they can rest smoothly in the mouth without causing irritation, they may be just fine. And, as you imply, even the smoothest equipment can be used to abuse an animal if jerked or pulled too strongly and cause permanent damage to teeth and tongue and bars.

Q: Is there anything that the horse owner can do to ensure healthier teeth?

A: The best precaution is to find someone capable and willing to thoroughly examine the mouth. A full-mouth speculum must be used. A "finger check" is not adequate, nor is a "peek" into the mouth. The mouth must be examined with the hand into the back of the oral cavity.

Q: What would you really like horse owners to recognize about horse dentistry?

A: All horses need thorough, in-depth oral exams, which will find that most of them need points removed at less than yearly intervals. Horses will not show us any signs of dental problems until the damage is approaching the irreparable state. We can add five to 15 years to our horses' life expectancy if we begin by six months of age and continue throughout their life.

Dr. Allen also corrected some common misperceptions about horse dentistry:

Myth: Horses with teeth in need of dental work will quickly develop problems chewing and swallowing their feed. Watch a horse eat grain, and if more than a small amount of grain is falling back out of his mouth, it's likely that he needs his teeth checked.

Fact: Whether or not grain is being dropped is not relevant in any but the top 1 percent of the most severe cases. Horses will continue eating until damage is often irreparable. If horse owners wait -- and they do -- until grain is being dropped or reluctance to eat occurs, the damage may be such that we have cost the horse a few years off the end of her/his life.

Myth: A horse who begins tossing his head when pressure is placed on the bit may well need his teeth looked at.

Fact: Waiting until a problem shows up is the current procedure. Preventive maintenance [not "checking"] every six months will help them live longer.

Myth: The horse should be examined as a yearling, then once a year from then on.

Fact: About 50 percent of weanlings have points making holes in their cheeks. Waiting until they are yearlings allows the introduction of bacteria and toxins in their systems for that much longer. Why allow that? Horses less than 5 or 6 years of age will have the points again in less than 6 months.

Myth: Sedation is sometimes used, sometimes not, depending on the horse.

Fact: To attempt thorough dentistry without sedation is equivalent to attempting a thorough tune-up of a car without raising the hood.

Dr. Allen has his own Web site at horsedentist.com.