Dental Care for an Old Horse
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MOST HORSES NEED dental care periodically. Domestic horses are often eating grain and hay rather than grazing, and may not wear their teeth normally. Dental care is part of horse management, and older horses often need more frequent check-ups and attention than younger horses. Equine teeth continually erupt from the jaw, to compensate for constant wear. As the teeth wear out through the years, there’s less reserve crown to erupt and, eventually, the older horse may lose some teeth. The teeth also change shape and angle as they move outward, which can lead to uneven wear.
A few decades ago, people thought of horses in their 20s as being old, but now, with improvements in various aspects of health care, diet, and dental care, they often live longer, and we can feed horses beyond when their teeth wear out. We just need to be more proactive in taking care of their dental needs.
A twice-a-year dental check enables us to know if their teeth have hooks or points and need a float, or if they have loose or missing teeth and if the surrounding teeth aren’t staying in their proper place — with feed packing into spaces that weren’t there earlier.
Many horse owners don’t think teeth need to be looked at until the horse gets old, but by then, a horse may have a lot of damage or problems that could’ve been prevented with earlier maintenance. It’s not uncommon to find an infected, fractured tooth or gum infection where food is packed into abnormal spaces in a horse that’s still eating well and the owner hasn’t noticed signs of pain. An old horse needs to have their teeth checked because they might have dental problems even though they’re fat and doing well.
Common mouth problems in an old horse.
Loose teeth, spaces between the teeth, or a fractured tooth may lead to gum infection, or infections at the tooth root, or openings where infection may go up into the sinuses. One of the problems with older horses is loss of teeth. The horse may become uncomfortable before that point, if teeth become loose. Some loose teeth can be removed easily, while others require more work to extract.
Spaces between the teeth, especially if they’re loose, may lead to periodontal disease if feed packs in there. If this happens in the upper cheek teeth, the infection may move upward to the root and create a sinus infection. Some infections, including sinusitis, are more commonly seen in older horses with Cushing’s syndrome, since their immune system is compromised. These horses need frequent and proper dental care to prevent or treat potential tooth infections. Sinus infections in general, aren’t easy to clear up, and if the horse is immune-compromised, it’s even more difficult.
Old teeth are more prone to becoming broken or abscessed after the root gets short. Young horses can get sharp points, too, but with older horses, we need to see if there are any teeth that have become diseased and need to be removed. The veterinarian or dentist will check for sharp points and smooth those off to make the horse more comfortable. Loose teeth or sharp points that cut into the gum or cheek can be painful and may interfere with the way the horse chews, and cause weight loss. If it hurts too much to eat, the horse won’t eat enough.
If a horse loses a tooth, there’s nothing opposing it and it doesn’t wear — so it grows too long and may cause problems. It may grow into the opposing empty socket and the mouth starts locking, movement of the jaw from front to back is inhibited. This may cause considerable pain in the temporal mandibular joint, and also affects the way the horse eats. Even if you are feeding high-quality expensive feed, if they can’t chew it properly, it doesn’t do them much good. This is similar to putting the best quality gas in a really bad engine. Most of it is going out the back end as unburned fuel.
The inability to chew properly not only affects feed efficiency, nutritional status and comfort, but can also increase the risk for other problems such as choke or impaction colic. If the fiber lengths of forages aren’t broken down enough, horses have a harder time swallowing or moving it through.
Signs of dental problems in an old horse.
Owners need to watch for changes in the way a horse eats, such as eating more slowly, reluctance to eat types of feed he always enjoyed before, moving food around in the mouth more than usual, or quidding (dropping wads of partially chewed hay out of the mouth). Tipping the head or holding it sideways while chewing can be another sign that the horse is having trouble eating — trying to tip it away from a painful area. Weight loss can be a clue as well. There can be many reasons that a horse might have trouble keeping proper weight, but checking the teeth is always a good starting point on the list of things to look at.
Nasal discharge can be another sign, especially if the discharge is just on one side. This might indicate a sinus problem. Bad breath is a common sign if a horse has a mouth infection. Horses’ breath always has a good smell, and this shouldn’t change as they get older. If it does, it’s time to take a look in the mouth. Mild diarrhea or fluid coming out alongside normal manure can also be a sign of dental problems. If horses aren’t chewing hay completely enough, the long fiber length can be an irritation in the gut.
How to deal with dental problems.
If the horse is packing feed between the teeth, flush the mouth periodically with water to try to rinse the debris loose, and pay close attention to how the horse is chewing. The veterinarian may need to clean up those periodontal pockets, pack them with antibiotics, and put some dental impression material over them — to keep feed from packing in there and allow an infection to heal.
Sometimes, however, once those pockets are cleaned out, you find that the tooth is loose. In this instance, removing the tooth is the best way to solve the problem. After that, your vet or equine dentist will have to periodically reduce the opposing tooth so it doesn’t become too tall. It should be checked every 6 to 9 months. Horses’ tooth anatomy is much different from human teeth. Horses don’t need root canals and fillings, and they generally don’t get toothaches.
Floating a horse’s teeth is important.
An old horse may get a very tall hook on the front or the back cheek teeth, however, and this happens because the jaws don’t match quite right. Part of the tooth wore off and the rest of it didn’t. Those hooks can become very long and painful — if they poke up into the gum on the opposite jaw. Then the horse can’t get the mouth closed without sticking that hook into the jaw each time — and that interferes with eating.
Horses don’t just chew up and down; their jaws move in a circular motion, side to side for grinding. If the tall tooth is catching in that gap, the jaws lock up and can’t do the circular motion and the old horse is unable to completely chew his feed. Another condition sometimes seen is a wave mouth. This is a series of tall and short teeth — like an ocean wave. Severe wave mouth can lock up the jaws and make it difficult to chew.
Some people think that every horse needs teeth floated once a year, but this isn’t healthy. This can wear teeth out too quickly and soon, you have an old horse with no teeth. The horse’s mouth should dictate what’s done, and every horse is different. It’s important, however to have dental checkups for every horse, and not wait until a horse is in his late teens or into the 20s before checking teeth. It’s important to have routine exams but not necessarily routine treatments unless the horse needs them.
Incisor problems as horse teeth age.
We tend to think of the cheek teeth (grinders) as needing the most dental care, but incisors sometimes develop problems if they’re mismatched or one or two fall out or become broken due to being kicked, falling down, running into something, biting on a rock in the feed, etc.
The horse without incisors can chew hay just fine if the molars are normal, but can’t bite off short grass. If the horse is always fed hay, you may not notice an incisor problem. Horses with mismatched jaws like parrot mouth (top teeth more forward than the bottom teeth) or sow mouth (bottom teeth more forward) may have trouble grazing because they can’t bite off grass. If the grass isn’t too short, they can continue to graze, even with all the incisors missing; they learn to use their lips to pull grass into the mouth. The horse’s tongue may hang out sometimes when the horse relaxes. The front teeth are no longer there for the tongue to rest against.
Dental exams for an old horse.
A quick look in the mouth by a veterinarian, using a good light and a speculum to hold the mouth open, and feeling around in the mouth, can discover any problems that might be developing.
A person can’t see much beyond the incisors and canine teeth when looking in the front of the mouth. It is important to examine the teeth with a full-mouth speculum. This may mean the horse has to be sedated, partly for the horse’s comfort and safety, and often for the safety of the people handling the horse.
An old horse generally tolerate a speculum, especially if they’ve been ridden or driven; they’re used to people fussing with their heads and putting things on their faces and in their mouth. There are a few exceptions, however, and horse owners need to be aware that the veterinarian might have to sedate the horse to do the exam. Sedation may be also necessary if there is arthritis in the temporal mandibular joint (TMJ) and it’s painful for an old horse to open his mouth that much.
A little sedation not only prevents discomfort but also relaxes that region. It’s important to use a speculum so that every tooth can be thoroughly checked — both seen and felt — in an effective manner. If a tooth is loose, you might not be able to tell without wiggling it. It’s important to have both a look and a feel inside the mouth. If the horse is sedated, it’s also easier for the veterinarian or dentist to do whatever is necessary to relieve a problem — whether removing sharp hooks or even a bad tooth.
What is a good feed for an old horse?
If an old horse is having trouble chewing food because his teeth are gone, this problem can be addressed by a change in diet. Today, there are many feeds designed specifically for older horses that can’t eat normally.
There are chopped forages, and also some cubes and pellets that can be soaked. Many of these can be fed as a complete diet, without having to rely on hay. Most horses like these pre-chewed feeds, and these products are nutritious and palatable.
HEATHER SMITH THOMAS ranches with her husband near Salmon, Idaho, raising cattle and a few horses. She has a B.A. in English and history. She has raised and trained horses for 50 years, and has been writing freelance articles and books nearly that long, publishing 20 books and more than 9,000 articles for horse and livestock publications. Find Heather online at heathersmiththomas.blogspot.com.
Originally published in the September/October 2023 issue of Countryside and Small Stock Journal and regularly vetted for accuracy.
