Equine Dentistry
Horses have constantly erupting teeth as adults. This means their teeth are always growing into the mouth. Their bottom jaw is more narrow than their top jaw and they chew in a figure 8 circular motion. This normal wear creates “points” on the outsides of the top cheek teeth and on the insides of the bottom teeth. These points are sharp and can dig into the soft cheeks and tongue, causing chewing problems and pain.
Most horses need to have their teeth floated once a year, some horses more often.
Horses can have broken teeth that allows the opposing tooth to grow longer, pushing on the the other teeth
Signs your horse is having tooth pain:
- Dropping feed, especially smaller feed stuff like grain
- Quidding: Wadding the feed up and dropping these wads out of the mouth
- Resistance under saddle: Not willing to turn one or both directions
- Tossing their head when bridled
