Equine Dentist

The equine dentist came out yesterday. The 10 year old horse had a few points but not bad. He was seen a year ago. My 20 year old horse, also seen a year ago, had no problems. Dentist said after age18-20 horses only need to be seen every two years, as their teeth do not grow any more. My sister had questions about a yearling. Dentist said horses do not need to be seen until about 2 1/2, and then they could benefit from 6 month checkups.

She shared a good lot of information about why some horses scatter grain, tilt their heads to eat, and other assorted weirdness. She explained how horses chew. How to minimize the grain-scatterers.

Marsha your dentist sounds very informative and happy to answer your questions, which is what I would be looking for in a good dentist .

So glad that you shared your info and learning experience. That is so great and yes, it's always a learning experience.

I do, however, disagree w/ your equine dentist regarding the first appointments now (or these days). Those are old standards and in our Shetlands, I've noticed that they need to be seen the first time around 12 months of age. For the last few years, most of our yearlings have had not only points, but wolf teeth that needed to be addressed. AND all of the wolf teeth pulled from our Shetlands have been larger than the wolf teeth pulled from our Arab and ArabX saddle horses years ago (I'd kept a couple of teeth, don't have them now & wish I did!)... This is with different paddocks/pastures and feeds but always getting the same hay bales from the same suppliers.

I have always wondered if different areas of the country had different teeth "growth rates" (would make sense based on minerals, both natural and supplemented in feeds). We always had fewer points on both riding horses and minis/ponies in many years ago in CO & MT than we have had in VA(didn't own any there- boarding stables we rode at in the mid-70s) and NC. I do not know why or if it is even something to worry about - was just a curious thing to note (and one more constant expense that we have here in the SE vs when we lived in west/NW). It was actually very rare in CO, that our stock horses (QH/Paint & ArabXs) ever had wolf teeth that needed to be pulled. On the other hand, our vet was the head vet at the race track in Denver, CO and he stated that TBs almost always had wolf teeth that needed to be removed (late 70s - late 80s) while they were in training at the track before first races.

So that you know - we always used to have any youngster checked before bitting them to work in ground driving situations while training. If I was hooking lines to a bit when they were 18 months old, I wanted them checked first. If we were just bitting them to get them used to a bit, or to give a mouthy/nippy one something to do, then I didn't worry about it (so much).

I do know that growth rates are individual. We had one Arab mare that needed the "waves" in her teeth floated, or leveled, every 6 months up until she died at 24 yrs of age. And Bit, our 1991 shetland mare, had her teeth done annually every year until she passed last December at 25-3/4 yrs of age. Her full sister, Bell - 1992 model, doesn't need to be done every year like Bit did, but she still gets checked. I have had many Shetlands that have not needed to be done every year (it sure helps on the $), but again, it's really very individual. 2 have needed it much more often as they've aged than they did when they were younger.

Rio's wolf teeth, pulled March 2015 when he 23 months old were larger than Sami's wolf teeth pulled when he was 29 months old in February 2011.

Rio is a tiny Shetland under 36" (don't have a current height, sorry) and Sami is a 1/2 arab/shet that was approx 12.3 hh (51") at the time his teeth were pulled. He is currently 13.2+ hh (54"+).

Here is a picture that shows the heights of Rio & Sami last summer. Rio was born in April 2013 (3yrs) and Sami was born in October 2008 (7yrs). They aren't right next to each other, but...



Dr Eaton, of Eaton Mobile Vet Services, pulled the wolf teeth on both of these ponies - on Sami at our previous property and on Rio just 3 months after we moved to this new property. Rio's teeth were actually pulled under that tree, LOL... Rio and Sami are not by the same sire BUT Rio's dam is a 1/2 sister to Sami (by the same Shetland stallion), so they are related.

Would love to know what the dentist said about grain scattering etc as off and on we've had issues related to that... that our vet(s) couldn't decipher or figure out (teeth were fine).

She said horses don't have all their teeth until 2 1/2 so it isn't critical for their dental health to be seen. Of course, each horse is different, I'm sure. Her criteria for overall dental health is whether the horse can browse and eat hay properly. If the owner sees a problem with that, then of course he would follow up. Quidding or dropping chewed forage would need some attention.

She said horses are not designed to eat grain or pellets. They have different ways of dealing with that. And they are right or left-mouthed. Tilting the head while eating grain, or in my horse's case, throwing his head up in the air, are not causes for alarm.

Spreading the grain out so he has to forage a little and take small bites is best. Or rocks in the dish. That first eager gobble of grain is usually the problem. Horses that compete in a herd for their food can develop some idiosyncrasies. I can't explain it as well as she did.

My sister's yearling drops his grain all over the place. The dentist said he doesn't have all his teeth yet and grain-dropping is not uncommon. He grazes and does fine with hay.

She is Board Certified in my state. She used to be the only one; maybe not any more.

Interesting to read of other dental experiences. I used to take mine to a vet, but the first one didn't get all the way back because his tools and hands were too large. Others used large horse tools and there was blood. This vet uses a small, Dremel-like tool. She goes all the way back.

She offers classes and her best students are farriers.

My equine dentist said she like to see youngsters yearly while they are shedding caps and getting their permanent teeth in, as some don't shed caps which can cause problems. Then do adults with their permanent teeth on an as needed basis, but to check at least yearly. And, seniors on an added needed basis depending on their individual dental needs; she prefers not to do them yearly if they don't need it, as they are not getting more tooth growth, and they start to get loose in the jaw, so prefers not to add to that tooth loosening procedure.

Yes, I was surprised when my dentist did not stress youngsters being seen early. I wish I could remember the technical reasons why. But I was taking in so much information that I can't remember it all. I personally think I'd like my youngster looked at around two. If there wasn't a problem, then no harm done.

I'm also surprised that the dentist said that......Sometimes youngsters' jaws grow irregularly and can cause points.....Sort of like some will get "butt high" and then even out.