What does a dental examination involve?
A thorough examination of the horse’s head and mouth is carried out in order to assess dental symmetry, balance and highlight any dental disease or abnormal wear. ‘Balancing’ of the teeth is achieved by filing or burring away any malocclusion with the use of dental instrument.
The reduction of any protuberant, blocking or restricting teeth will give full lateral excursion and better occlusion, in turn,
- Relieving pain,
- Increasing tooth life,
- Enhancing performance,
- Improving overall balance and condition.
Other issues that may need addressing include;
- Removal of loose cheek teeth and caps. Caps are the remnants of baby teeth that sit on top of the emerging adult teeth,
- Removal of wolf teeth. These are small vestigial pre-molar teeth that sit just in front of the cheek teeth, not to be confused with the canines or ‘tushes’. These are not present in all horses.
- Removal of tartar
- Removal of food impactions from between the teeth and identification of periodontal disease.
- Identification of EOTRH (Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hypercementosis).
- Identification of any 'bitting' issues that may be evident in the mouth.
