Horse Dentistry - Keeping Your Horse's Teeth Healthy

Unlike humans, whose teeth grow to a certain size and remain that way forever, horses have teeth that grow continuously for the majority of a horse's life, up until age twenty-five or thirty. While ever-growing teeth may seem impractical for humans, it is an efficient system for a horse. Horses in the wild will graze most of the day, and the plants that they consume are often covered in a thin layer of dirt. This dirt and other sediment slowly wear away the teeth, usually in a fairly even manner making room for more teeth to grow in.

Unfortunately, one of the shortfalls of modern horse care is that horses have been removed from their natural conditions and are often fed types of feed that will not wear down the teeth as efficiently as the teeth were developed to.

What are the dangers of a horse's teeth wearing unevenly? Occasionally these mis-worn teeth will be ground into razor sharp hooks that can cause a horse serious discomfort. Often with the help of the halter, the cheek will be pressed against the tooth where it will be sliced into repeatedly. This of course can lead to infection, and certainly a great deal of pain.

If left unchecked, the uneven wear could eventually lead a horse to chew in an unnatural fashion that could, in the end, lead to a tooth that simply loosens and falls out. A horse missing teeth will of course be even more prone to wearing its teeth unevenly.

Without leaving your horse out to pasture for eighteen hours a day, how is a horse owner to cope? Here is where equine dentists come into play. Using a rasp, either manually or by means of a power tool, an equine dentist will "float" your horse's teeth. The idea is that the sharp ridges and hooks that may have been created will be filed down, allowing the horse eventually to move its jaw in the correct manner and without pain.

The equine dentist will not file the horse's teeth until they are smooth however. The horse needs some contours to its teeth for proper chewing. The teeth will be filed to roughly the same length, and if a horse's canine tooth has grown too long, it may be filed as well. Occasionally, a tooth will be too long to be filed efficiently. When this happens, a dentist will then use a specialized tool to cut it down to size. This task especially is best left to a professional to ensure that your horse's tooth will not shatter.

In order to detect a dental problem in your horse, simply pay attention to how the horse eats. If you notice your horse to be salivating more than usual, to eat very slowly, to drop un-chewed food from their mouths or who have feces with large pieces of food visible, it may be time to call in the equine dentist. If you are not familiar with an equine dentist in the area, your veterinarian or other local horse owners may be able to help you track one down. In fact, many equine veterinarians are also skilled in equine dentistry.

Do you know that you can count a horse's teeth to find out its age and that they usually live for around 20 to 25 years? To find out more about equine, including horse health and horse care, follow the links to visit us at PetCustomer.com.