The Horse:Your Guide To Equine Health Care provides monthly equine health care information to horse owners, breeders, veterinarians, barn/farm managers, trainer/riding instructors, and others involved in the hands-on care of the horse.
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33 June 2017 THE HORSE TheHorse.com horse has some resistance in the bridle, I ask which side they are feeling more resistance in. That way, I am not biasing their answer. This helps me decide whether wolf teeth need to be modified or removed." Diseased Teeth An apical abscess (infection of the tooth root), a fracture, or periodontal problems (those af- fecting the gums and structures surrounding the tooth) can all cause a tooth to become diseased. "These must be evaluated on an individual basis," says Delorey. "If the diseased tooth is in the front of the mouth, where it may be in direct or secondary contact with the bit or tack, it may be causing pain. Many diseased teeth, however, are much farther back in the head, far away from the bit and often nowhere near contact with any pressure from the bridle. Those have to be evaluated to determine whether they are causing a performance problem, and this can be tricky," partly because many horses don't react like humans do to a toothache. "Horses are very tough animals and very stoic," says Delorey. "They often keep doing their job and tend to keep eating, unless there is a very serious problem in the mouth. It has to be very serious, or a mechanical impossibility, for them to stop eating. Sometimes performance-related is- sues that are dental in origin can be quite subtle and almost impossible to confirm." She says she's seen many horses with severe apical abscesses resulting in sinus infections still perform normally. "The owner may not know anything is wrong until the horse has a nasty nasal dis- charge on one side," she says. The infec- tion didn't cause enough discomfort for the horse to act differently. Malocclusions A horse whose jaws and teeth don't align or meet in a uniform way can also experience performance problems. The most common malocclusion, says De- Lorey, is wave mouth (an unevenly worn row of cheek teeth). Wave mouth can cause discomfort in horses that wear a lot of bitting or a tight or dropped noseband. Some malocclusions, such as hooks that accompany wave mouth, can impede normal jaw motion during under saddle work. When the rider goes to collect the horse and asks him to flex at the poll, for instance, the hooks hinder movement in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ, which allows the horse to open and shut his mouth) between the skull and the first neck vertebrae, right in front of the poll, says Delorey. Normally, when a horse flexes at the poll, the angle between the head and neck changes, causing the lower jaw to slide forward. If anything blocks that movement, such as hooks on the molars, and the horse can't open his mouth enough to create space to free them, the jaws es- sentially lock together, the lower jaw can't slide forward, and the horse can't flex at the poll. "Trying to force him to flex may create pain in the TMJ joint," says Delorey. "This prob- lem can generally be alleviated with proper dental care and by not forcing the horse to keep his mouth shut." A horse whose mouth is not forcibly closed when ridden can move his jaws to adjust their position and stay comfortable. In this case, the horse might not exhibit any performance problems, even though he may have hooks. "There is very little science to back this up, but through years and years of work- ing with performance horses and riders, I can … say that severe dental malocclu- sions (which are fairly common) play a MADE IN Gray, Orange and Blue colors available in Mini, Yearling, Small, Medium and Large Sizes Patented Design US6508205B1 Exclusively Distributed By: • Prevents Botflies from laying eggs causing hoof damage • Decreases healing time of abrasions and wounds by allowing air flow • Easy to attach, comfortable to wear and will not sag due to their unique sewn-in plastic stays Use loose-fitting, chemical free during fly season to prevent painful fly bites and reduce stressful stomping. STOP THE STOMP! STOP THE STOMP! w w w. s t o n e m f g. n e t QUALITY • SERVICE • INNOVATION Because most of each tooth lies below the gumline, radiographs can shed light on underlying dental issues. ISABELLE ARNON