S
StarRidgeAcres
Guest
As I said in another thread, I body clipped Raven for the purposes of seeing what her condition was after a winter of being a spoiled rotten brat that got TONS of treats for doing nothing!!
When clipping her jaw I found a bump in a spot that I didn't expect. It's on the left side of her lower jaw. Not coming out the bottom of the jaw like most tooth bumps do, but actually protruding out the side. Sort of like the tooth (root, tooth, cap and all) was laying horizontally rather than vertically.
So off to the vet we go!
Vet did radiographs and visually examined it and gave me two options - let it alone and see what happens or have it surgically removed. He also cautioned me that in all the cases he's seen the "wait and see" approach always resulted in surgery eventually. So, since she's a show horse, and probably our nicest show horse, I'm thinking we need it removed sooner rather than later. But it's really invasive and has risks obviously so I wanted a second opinion. So off to another vet two hours away we go this morning.
This time we went to the University's teaching hospital. Raven got TONS of attention and since they don't see this too often, many, many vets and vet-hopefuls looked at her. They also had a horse skull they used to show us exactly what was going on. Personally when I looked at the radiographs I saw nothing! Looked like a bunch of spiderwebs to me!
For those that want the technical description of what is going on here is part of an email from the University vet school:
[SIZE=10pt][/SIZE]
Thank you for bringing Raven to the Equine Clinic for evaluation of a left mandibular swelling
On physical examination, two eruption cysts were noted on the ventral aspect of the left ramus of the mandible, coinciding with the normal eruption of premolars 2 and 3. Additionally, a firm swelling was noted on the lateral aspect of the left mandible, mid-ramus, at the approximate rostral to caudal location of mandibular premolar 4. The swelling appears to be associated with maleruption of PM4 (most likely) or PM3.
Options include surgical removal of the affected premolar by Dr. Ellis or our clinic, or observing the area for changes and having a dental exam performed every 2-3 months to determine if removal is essential. Raven does not appear to be a good candidate for biweekly molar spreading in an attempt to create additional eruption space.
Thanks again for bringing Raven to the Equine Clinic. Please call if you have any questions regarding her visit.
In my words, what they are going to do is drill a hole in her jaw bone and push the tooth (root and everything) up through the gum and remove it. They are then going to grind down portions of her jaw that are now bowed out from the pressure of the root. This is mostly done from the outside of the head and not through the mouth. Then the hole and skin will be packed and left open to drain. She will require daily cleaning and repacking of the area, antibiotics, pain meds, etc. We're told the time from surgery to healing enough to show is 2 to 4 months
! With 4 months being the likely. And this is if everything goes well.
As for why we are putting her through this, it's our understanding that although she doesn't seem to be in much pain now and can eat just fine that she will eventually be in pain and not be able to eat. So we are choosing to do it now rather than later.
And as for how did this occur, there is no way to know for sure but since her jaw is perfectly aligned and no other teeth show any evidence of coming in weird the likely cuprit was a swift kick from another horse. I'm told that many times issues like this are symmetrical and will be the same on both sides, but in Ravey's case the right side has no issues whatsoever. That doesn't mean it was for sure an injury but that seems like the most likely cause. Add to that how freakin tiny (short) her head is and there's just no room for error in there, so any issue was probably going to be a big one.
The cost is estimated at $1800 - $2200. And no I didn't purchase major medical for her.
Please keep Ravey in your thoughts for a safe surgery tomorrow and a speedy recovery. She's our baby!
When clipping her jaw I found a bump in a spot that I didn't expect. It's on the left side of her lower jaw. Not coming out the bottom of the jaw like most tooth bumps do, but actually protruding out the side. Sort of like the tooth (root, tooth, cap and all) was laying horizontally rather than vertically.
Vet did radiographs and visually examined it and gave me two options - let it alone and see what happens or have it surgically removed. He also cautioned me that in all the cases he's seen the "wait and see" approach always resulted in surgery eventually. So, since she's a show horse, and probably our nicest show horse, I'm thinking we need it removed sooner rather than later. But it's really invasive and has risks obviously so I wanted a second opinion. So off to another vet two hours away we go this morning.
This time we went to the University's teaching hospital. Raven got TONS of attention and since they don't see this too often, many, many vets and vet-hopefuls looked at her. They also had a horse skull they used to show us exactly what was going on. Personally when I looked at the radiographs I saw nothing! Looked like a bunch of spiderwebs to me!
[SIZE=10pt][/SIZE]
Thank you for bringing Raven to the Equine Clinic for evaluation of a left mandibular swelling
On physical examination, two eruption cysts were noted on the ventral aspect of the left ramus of the mandible, coinciding with the normal eruption of premolars 2 and 3. Additionally, a firm swelling was noted on the lateral aspect of the left mandible, mid-ramus, at the approximate rostral to caudal location of mandibular premolar 4. The swelling appears to be associated with maleruption of PM4 (most likely) or PM3.
Options include surgical removal of the affected premolar by Dr. Ellis or our clinic, or observing the area for changes and having a dental exam performed every 2-3 months to determine if removal is essential. Raven does not appear to be a good candidate for biweekly molar spreading in an attempt to create additional eruption space.
Thanks again for bringing Raven to the Equine Clinic. Please call if you have any questions regarding her visit.
In my words, what they are going to do is drill a hole in her jaw bone and push the tooth (root and everything) up through the gum and remove it. They are then going to grind down portions of her jaw that are now bowed out from the pressure of the root. This is mostly done from the outside of the head and not through the mouth. Then the hole and skin will be packed and left open to drain. She will require daily cleaning and repacking of the area, antibiotics, pain meds, etc. We're told the time from surgery to healing enough to show is 2 to 4 months
As for why we are putting her through this, it's our understanding that although she doesn't seem to be in much pain now and can eat just fine that she will eventually be in pain and not be able to eat. So we are choosing to do it now rather than later.
And as for how did this occur, there is no way to know for sure but since her jaw is perfectly aligned and no other teeth show any evidence of coming in weird the likely cuprit was a swift kick from another horse. I'm told that many times issues like this are symmetrical and will be the same on both sides, but in Ravey's case the right side has no issues whatsoever. That doesn't mean it was for sure an injury but that seems like the most likely cause. Add to that how freakin tiny (short) her head is and there's just no room for error in there, so any issue was probably going to be a big one.
The cost is estimated at $1800 - $2200. And no I didn't purchase major medical for her.
Please keep Ravey in your thoughts for a safe surgery tomorrow and a speedy recovery. She's our baby!
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