[Jill]

"Upper" ones do not always go away and I think, usually, they happen about 1 year after you expect to see lower ones.

If possible, I'd have a dentist.

When a mare of mine, Khaki, had what I thought was Upper Tooth Bumps (like you say, started below the eyes), she was only 2yo. I mentioned it to the vet when he was out not expecting any resolution to it at all. He looked and said she had "big head syndrom" which is caused by a calcium / phopsherous (sp?) imbalance.

She'd had colic surgery the year before and was on a diet of mostly hay cubes and soaked beet pulp, per the surgeon.

What we did was put her on a supplement the vet recommended. I don't now remember the name. We also started to give her complete pellets which the vet said was fine for her. Slowly, those upper bumps went away.

THEN, they came back a year or 18 mos later, but at that time, they were just from her teeth growing / shedding. I don't recall now how long this "normal" right of passage lasted, but her head is now normal without any bumps, upper or lower.

Additionally, if you remember "Stacey" who posted here years ago? She had a senior mare named Kat at one point and this mare (silver bay) had these upper tooth bumps. I do not know if it was from an imbalance as we caught and fixed with Khaki, or if it was from some kind of retained teeth issues? But this mare was over 5yo and the situation was beyond being fixed at that stage.

You may be able to google and find information about horses and "big head syndrom". It, of course, has a technical name but this is what my vet called it and when I investigated, I was able to find additional information. I do think with this kind of problem, and with teeth that are not shedding properly, timely intervention is important. Sometimes just a floating will knock the caps off and get things going as they should assuming it is not big head syndrom (which requires supplementation / diet changes).


Here you can see Triple H Buckin Khaki (buckskin) with these upper tooth bumps (big head sydrom was gone prior to the bumps) and see her "currently" all normal.

This post has been edited by Jill: 29 May 2007 - 05:41 AM

[Jill]

This might (?) be a good thread for the "best of" board. We all have talked about the lower tooth bumps, but I don't think enough people know to be aware of the upper ones which are sometimes not as noticable (and sometimes more so which can scare owners), plus about needing to look for that "big head syndrom".

[Mary Lou - LB]

pinned this to move to Best of LB Forum later..

Interesting thread...

[Jill]

Ooops, forgot to show the more common "lower" bumps. Here they are on Harmony Hills Harvest Gold, who is 3yo I think where you can see them. Pictured before them, during them, and after them to show the way it goes...

Before:






During:









After:

[Lost Spoke Ranch]

We have a three year old appy mare that started with a bump a little more than half way down the left side of her nose last fall. Thought it would go away on its own, but spring rolled around and it was still there and beginning to discharge. We decided to call a dentist to have a look. They pulled a cap, took some X-Rays, and put her on some antibiotics. The X-Rays came back clean with no structural damage and the discharging stopped, but the swelling still hadn’t gone down and the dentist suspected an abscess. We were instructed to pack her nose twice a day with warm/hot Epsom salt to draw the abscess out. We are on day three; her abscess has broken open and draining with the swelling down considerably.

Dawn

[HGFarm]

Dawn, are you letting her use the neti-pot? LOL

If they are there for a length of time, or if they look 'lopsided' or unusual swelling, definitely have them looked at. My mares bumps went away after the dental work. The neighbors little stud was so bad, that his winter hair actually stuck out over them like it was combed that way, which made it even worse looking.

It seems sometimes, possibly due to lack of room, the smaller horses look worse- but I have had some that really didnt show any much at all, and a couple that were pretty big.

[chandab]

I have a 4 year old silver mare that had horrible upper jaw tooth bumps last year. She was at the vet in February, he said her teeth weren't bad enough to worry about; it was fall before the equine dentist made her rounds this way (she floated them at that time). During the course of the last year, she shed 7 caps (I found them around her corral, she's the only horse in that pen and she's the only horse I own at the age to be shedding caps). This spring after losing most of her winter woolies, she now has a nice shaped head; not dished or overly refined, but a nice clean profile with no ugly bumps. I was starting to think she'd just be stuck with those bumps, but they have gone away. [She's not a show mare, so wasn't a big issue, but I'm glad they have gone away.]
Now, I have a two year old with the start of upper tooth bumps; the equine dentist will check them all at this year's appointment.

[WICKERSHAM MINIATURES]

Nancy,



Yes, please have an equine dentist check your baby's tooth bumps. I have only had one horse that has ever had any trouble with tooth bumps, but they ended up disfiguring her face. I sold her before the bumps got bad and the new owner didn't do anything about them until is was almost too late. My vet also told us (the purchaser and myself at the same time during a checkup before the lady bought my little filly ) that the tooth bumps would go away. They didn't and the horse got ugly. She started to show signs of the bumps being painful before the new owner did anything. It ended up that the horse needed her baby caps removed so that the new teeth could come in. The bumps did get smaller but I am not sure that the horse's face will ever look normal. It was costly too. Had the lady taken the horse to the equine dentist sooner, things would have all turned out better. The little filly's brother started out looking like he was going to have the same problem, but he didn't. I took him to the equine dentist and everything was okay. Nothing had to be done to him and he is one of my prettiest horses today!!! So, YES, have them seen about before it is too late.



Cindy Wickersham

[MyMenagerie]

If they have tooth bumps that don't go away, does it effect their show-ability at all? Is it frowned on at all, or is it something that's ok? Just curious

[Jill]

I think past the age where tooth bumps are expected, they would for sure hurt a horse's placing in halter classes, but not in performance classes.