Horse Insights

As with humans, horses need dentists. Some believe that the Vet training in dentistry is enough, others believe that lay professionals should be allowed to practice equine dentistry.

Horses from birth onward need regular dental examinations, much the same as humans do. And, like humans, horses need differing types of dental evaluations – birth and young horses should be checked to ensure their teeth are formed correctly; their bite is sound, etc.

As the horse becomes a “teen” the dental evaluation will ensure that their baby teeth are being replaced in a timely fashion with the adult teeth; that there are no “left over” teeth that are in the way of chewing, biting, or bitting and the bit seat.

As the horse is fully mature, the dental evaluation will ensure that the horse does not develop sharp teeth; broken teeth, or even decayed teeth. And as the horse ages gracefully, the dental evaluation will ensure the horse’s ability to continue to eat as it lives out its days.

The dental evaluation is comprised of questions for the horse owner – why did you specifically feel the need for an evaluation for your horse? Was it eating differently than normal – balling food in the corners of its mouth; dropping food while chewing; salivating excessively? Did your horse’s performance suddenly change – difficult to put a bit in their mouth; difficulty in turning one specific way; incessantly tossing its head? Or, did your horses’s overall weight suddenly change? Does it have bad breath?

Then the dental professional will look at the horse’s anatomy – is one eye above the other? Does the horse seem to hold its head to one side? Does it seem to chew on one side of its mouth only? Does it seem to be more irritable when the bit is put into its mouth?

And finally, the dental professional will do an internal examination – some of the horse’s teeth are actually so far back in the mouth that the dental professional may need to put his arm into the horse’s mouth all the way up to the elbow!! Right hand and arm checks the right side of the horse; left hand and arm check the left side.

If there is work needing to be done on the horse’s teeth, sometimes the dental professional will lightly sedate the animal – this type of work needs to be done by a qualified vet to be legal. Filing of wolf teeth; removing chipped or broken teeth, creating a “bit seat” – all of this work can seem to be invasive to the horse, and sedation allows the horse to remain calm –and allows the dental professional to remain whole and intact!!

Once the dental evaluation is done, and any abnormalities are rectified, the horse’s overall appearance, disposition, and performance usually show marked improvements.

There are some associations that I found interesting, in the debate as to whether a Vet or a dentist should check out horse’s teeth. More and more, horse owners are seeing the need for a specialist in equine dentistry branch of veterinary medicine.

The World Wide Association of Equine Dentistry WWAED provides education, testing, and certification for equine dental providers. If you ensure the dental professional you hire is certified with this organization, you can be assured that they have received a quality standardized education in the field.

And another organization, the Academy of Equine Dentistry, in Idaho maintains that it is through the teaching of proper procedures of equine dentistry that top performance from their equine endeavors is achieved.

At any rate, it seems that, just as with us humans, equine dentistry is a must for your horse, whether your foal, broodmare, or performance horse. You need to be the one to determine if a dentist is what you want, or if you are satisfied with a vet to take care of your horse’s teeth.