how many teeth does a horse have to have?

[dixie_belle]

This afternoon I went out to the dry lot to check on the horses and one of them was bleeding from the mouth. (Like I don't have enough to worry about just now). But I put a halter on him and put him in a stall with plenty of water and hay. I pried his mouth open and on the top right he is missing a tooth...maybe more? I'm not real sure how many teeth were there. So, either he got kicked in the mouth, or got his mouth caught in the no-climb fencing while reaching for a yummy blade of grass and got caught and pulled one or more out. (Luckily my farrier is coming in the morning and I've asked him to check). After about 30 minutes it stopped bleeding and he can't get kicked tonight or get to the fence. Will he be able to survive with some missing? How many does he really need? Do I need to get the vet out here?

I did give him some alfalfa cubes, broken up real small and he eats fine. He was chowing down on the hay when I left him in the stall.

Knuckle head. LOL

 

[Minimor]

How old is he?

 

[dixie_belle]

He's probably between 8 - 10 years old. (he was given to me by my vet in Texas in 2008 and I think he was 2 or so at the time). Certainly he is not an old man. He is low man on the totem pole.

 

[Minimor]

From your description I would say he should do okay without the missing tooth/teeth. They are corner teeth, not the very front ones? Losing his front ones wound make him unable to graze--corner ones should be less of a problem. Probably the worst that will happen is the corresponding tooth on the bottom will grow overly long and have to be filed down once in awhile.

Just watch to make sure his mouth heals okay and doesn't get infected.

 

[dixie_belle]

Yes, he's got his front ones. (thank goodness) And it must have just happened before I went out there as it was just starting to bleed. If I would have gone out just a minute sooner, I would have seen what was happening. While I was getting a halter from the barn though so I could get him into a stall, he was worrying at it on the fence. Maybe that was because his mouth was hurting? I've got him separated now in a stall just in case it was a kick. And he can't get to any fencing to worry at it.

It'll have to just keep until I get back from the doctor in the morning. I've got other things on my mind.

 

[chandab]

Just like with us, a little warm salt water rinse will help (just a large syringe to squirt it in his mouth, he'll probably just drool it out, which is fine).

If it were his front ones, it would make grazing more difficult, but it's amazing what they can manage.

 

[dixie_belle]

I have him in a nice stall with fresh water and hay and then I thought maybe his little mouth would be sore so I soaked some beet pulp with water, added a diced apple and 1/2 of horse chow. When I went out there he KNEW it was for him and I swear if he could have climbed over that stall wall to get to it, he would have. LOL I just left him out there with his late supper and he was eating like crazy. I have another batch soaking in the fridge and so he can have a nice soft breakfast, also.

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

Can you get us a picture? Maybe he just broke it off, that happens, too.

 

[Barefootin]

We have an AQHA mare that got kicked in the lower jaw a couple of years ago now. She lost 2 teeth which turns out wasn't really an issue. The issue was her lower jaw was broken. Thankfully she healed up fine as there wasn't really much we or the vet could do to help her. We just washed her mouth daily with a saline solution just to make sure nothing got lodged in the wound. Now 2 yrs later she is still fat, sassy, and liven on mostly grass and air. She looks silly now though because 90% of the time at least a little bit of her tongue sticks out of her mouth. It looks like she is blowing raspberries all the time. LOL

 

[dixie_belle]

I had the vet come out today for a farm call. Seems like he broke one tooth and half of it was dangling in his mouth and another was so pushed out of place as to be useless. He removed both of them (wanted to show me....um....ewwwwwwww) Gave him a tetnes (I know I didn't spell that right) booster and I'm go give him antibiotics for the next ten days. He seems to think that if he doesn't get an infection, he'll heal up nicely. His two front teeth (on the top) are OK. It's the two immediately to the right of the two front teeth that have been removed. I'll have to have the equine dentist out more frequently to rasp down the lower teeth on that side. I'll have her out probably in a couple of months, after he is completely healed, just to check on him. To me, it looks horrible because Peanut didn't just pull out a tooth, but took quite a bit of tissue with it. And I've never been able to do the whole "teeth" thing. When my kids had a loose tooth, they knew better than to show me. EWWWWWWW.

But I'm glad I had the vet come out. I'd much rather be safe, than sorry.

 

Good job! So glad he's now on the move to healing.

I had a young stallion who got kicked in the mouth and broke his jaw, losing several teeth on the bottom next to the two middle teeth. He healed up nicely, and I also used a salt water "swish" in his mouth with a syringe several times a day until he was fully healed...especially after he'd eaten his meals.

He never had any problems with eating with the missing teeth, so I hope your little one will do as well. Best of luck!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Always a worry with our animals! Hope it all comes out all right.