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  Discussion on Update of Dental Care article
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Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Feb 12, 2005 - 1:54 pm:

The AAEP meeting this year contained a large section on equine dentistry. This was the second time in 3 years that dentistry was a major topic at the meeting. We have incorporated much of this new information in our article on tooth anatomy dentistry.

The horse evolved to eat large quantities of forage, often containing abrasive silicates, for prolonged periods of the day. This placed great demands on the teeth. To compensate the horse developed teeth with very long crowns, called hypsodont teeth. The long reserve of crown is embedded in the deep alveolus of the surrounding bone in the young horse. Unlike humans whos teeth are fully erupted at maturity the equine teeth slowly erupt over most of the horses life at a rate of about 2 - 3 mm/year. In the ideal world this eruption rate just matches the wear rate and the rate sustains healthy teeth over the life of the horse.

Domestication and the recent availability of inexpensive concentrates has changed this balance and to some degree the problems faced by horses today:
1) The teeth do not wear down as fast resulting in the formation of sharp enamel points.
2) Bridles, halters, and bits create areas where soft tissue is caught between the tack and the teeth.
3) Horses are living much longer than they did in the wild so often the teeth are wearing out before the horse does.

As a result equine dentistry faces new challenges to address these problems. Often the reasons for intervention and the effect of our interventions have not been studied so we are left with the opinions of those who work on a lot of horse teeth. Recently case reports and some experiments have been being published along with a explosion of equipment to address these problems.

Many horses, particularly older horses, suffer from dental disease. Clinical signs can range from mouth odor and pain to the point that it is functionally impossible for the horse to chew enough food to maintain weight. It also seems apparent that functional teeth can develop problems that cause discomfort when tack is applied. There is a thought among some who feel we have gone from not effectively addressing serious problems to the opposite extreme where functional teeth are being worked on to the detriment of the horse and the owners pocket book.

In this article we make recommendations for routine dental care based on your goals and the horses endeavors, we explain the anatomy of the horses teeth in the foal and adult horse, discuss dental problems and their treatment, and examine the controversial aspects of some procedures..to access article click on Equine Dentistry off the navigation bar at the top of this frame.
Member:
Brandi

Posted on Monday, Feb 14, 2005 - 2:01 am:

Thanks Dr. O. for this update, your timing is impeccable. I've had my horses for 16 years and am quite diligent with all vet care, including yearly dental. I just had my younger (9) horse's dental work done this past Friday by a vet from my clinic who is a dental specialist (first time he had worked on my horse). I am surprised to read that the work done on my horse would be considered a performance powerfloat (smoothing points, creating a bit-seat, etc)--I think I was inadvertantly led to believe that this is pretty much the standard (my regular vet used power on my older boys just a couple weeks ago, but did a more moderate job due to their age and use). I'm not upset, just surprised, I can choose to be more conservative down the road and I feel that the majority of the work done was warranted.

Though at least 3 of the vets that I've spoken to at their practice fully support the power float, I worry a great deal about the heat issue (I believe it was Equus magazine that very recently published an article discussing the damage that could be caused by the excessive heat), and one of the vets mentioned long-term affects of vibration loosening teeth (he said it was not a problem). If you have any more of your thoughts or opinions to share on excessive heat or vibration, I'd love to hear them.

The good news is that my horse was not sore afterward (at least not enough to keep him from his dinner--but nothing ever keeps him from his dinner!), and he no longer is DrOpping ANY of his supplement, to the utter disappointment of the dog, like he was before the work, and finally, the ulcers on his cheeks are healing nicely...he's got to be much happier and more comfortable.

One last question, what is the point of the bit seat? If the teeth are normal, how is it different for the horse to have the bit, if it does come in contact with the teeth, hit a curved, but more recently exposed area, as opposed to a healthy and normal, but square, tooth? At first thought it seemed obvious, but when I tried to explain its purpose to my husband, it no longer seemed so obvious.
Thanks, Brandi
Member:
Imogen

Posted on Monday, Feb 14, 2005 - 3:38 am:

Thanks for this Dr O. I have always worried about my older mare (14 yrs) that I have had for 8 years as she has a cramped mouth and has always developed sharp teeth, and had probably 5 power floats in that time. There is no question it makes her more accepting of the bit but I worry I am shortening her life by doing this. I will show your diagram with the red blue and green lines to the vet and ask him what he assesses that he is doing.

However it looks like there is no firm evidence yet on the long term effects from your article...

All the best

Imogen
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Feb 14, 2005 - 7:47 am:

Brandi, either you have misread (or I have not been clear) on the point about floating points. Removing points is pretty standard care. Removing substantial portions of the occlusal surface is what I call a "power float". Bit seats do remove substantial parts of occlusial surface so I would consider it part of a power float.

I have seen several explanations as to why bit seats improve bridle function but the one that seems most logical is to lessen the pinching of the side of the mouth between the edge of the bit(particularly a broken or hinged bit) and the first cheek teeth when pressure is applied through the reins. I personally do not use them and slow to recommend them but some consider them essential for competition.

Glad to help Imogen and I think I alrady see some long term effects: questions about what we are doing and better communication with those who work on our horse.
DrO
Member:
Christos

Posted on Monday, Feb 14, 2005 - 2:52 pm:

Thanks for the article, DrO.
I have one question, however. How do you measure LEC ?
My little one is pretty used to holding his mouth open for me to fool around, but he has a hard time understanding that now I want him to keep it closed and pretend he's chewing. I finally persuaded his sister to move her jaw sideways, but she couldn't care less for holding it there until I take measurements.
So, what vertical gap between cheek teeth (incisors in contact) would suggest an ideal LEC ?

(How these horses have not stomped me into the stall floor yet, I really do not know)

Christos
Member:
Christos

Posted on Monday, Feb 14, 2005 - 3:21 pm:

One more question:
"Horses who had teeth with significant points on the cheek teeth did not see an improvement in digestive efficiency when they were floated smooth"
This can be interpreted in a number of ways:
-Since removing them did not make a difference, the points were not, after all, inhibiting digestive efficiency.
-Abnormal chewing becomes a habit, so that improvement in GI efficiency may take some time to develop after the teeth are corrected.
-Because of chronic poor chewing, some GI damage is permanent and floating after that only prevents things from getting worse.

Which one (if any)is correct? How come floating did not show an improvement?

Christos
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 15, 2005 - 7:34 am:

Lateral Excursion distance of the the mandible before Contact is made (LEC) can be measured by careful manipulation of the mandible to the left and the right. Noting the point where the middle of the upper arcade is when the teeth are just forced apart by the contact of the cheek teeth or that point where the incisors just come back together as you return to the neutral position. The LEC is the distance between the neutral position (the red line in the diagram in the article) and that point the teeth separate (the end of the blue or green line).

Since there was no sign of disease or digestive inefficiency we presume the first with the understanding that perhaps the change was so small that the improvement could not be measured with this experiment.
DrO
Member:
Christos

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 15, 2005 - 8:23 am:

A million thanks, DrO.
Sorry, I didn't pay attention to the coloured lines on the incisor part of the diagram.

Christos
Member:
Brandi

Posted on Thursday, Feb 17, 2005 - 2:46 am:

Dr. O., No, you weren't unclear, I guess I was. I meant only that due to the bit-seat and all the power work that my dentist did, it seemed that's what I got. He did really round off the points on the cheeks--but considering the ulcers my horse had there, I'm not complaining about "too much" right now, and neither is my horse it seems. He's happy, with both bit and with masticating without loosing any precious feed, so I'm happy too. It's all good, and I appreciate the article.

Brandi
Member:
Kcovell

Posted on Monday, May 30, 2005 - 4:31 am:

DrO
Just recently I had my horses teeth power floated for the first time, by my vet (who I trust with their lives), but I didn't like the "dremel tool" type thing used. I can see where there could be numerous problems, such as taking off too much tooth or cutting the inside of the horses mouth.
Luckly I was going to run my barrel horse that weekend so she wasn't done, but the other three horses were. It took two of them alittle over a week to start eating right and the third horse lost about 50 pounds. My 24 year old started leaving pieces of half chewed up hay on the ground after this, and still is.
Like I said I trust my vet completely and he does go to schools to learn new things, but this power float is not for my horses. I'm going back to the equine dentist I use that does it the old way.
This was just a comment I felt I had to make and I did read all your articles on teeth.
Thanks
KC
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, May 30, 2005 - 9:52 am:

I just don't see the role power equipment has in rountine work. I was surprised last year when several veterinary dental assitants posted last year that mouth pain was common following its use. We do lots of teeth in our clinic and this was not a common event for us. Yes when substantial about of a tooth have to be removed, badly overgrown first cheek teeth for instance power takes what is nearly a impossible chore and makes it easy but for routine floating, it is hard to have the control of a hand blade.
DrO
Member:
Vickiann

Posted on Monday, May 30, 2005 - 7:41 pm:

I totally agree that too many incompetents have gotten their hands on this power equipment but have also had an equine dentist who handled it wonderfully, with three horses showing ZERO signs of soreness (on numerous ocassions) the very next day after floating. On the other hand, I have had Vets twice who made my horses sore for days without any power equipment whatsoever. The power equipment should not be handled by anyone without a great deal of experience. I do believe in the theory of equine dentists . . . and eye specialists too - - - just as with human medicine.
Member:
Christos

Posted on Tuesday, May 31, 2005 - 6:47 am:

DrO, do you use a common Dremel tool in the clinic or a specialised power tool with water cooling?
I am asking because we were discussing this with my dentist and he said it is very risky to power float a tooth without water cooling.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, May 31, 2005 - 9:38 am:

We have both Christos. Our large cheek tooth grinder has a water port but for small incisor or first cheek tooth work we sometimes use a large dremel motor attached to the grinding too with a flexy shaft.

When we are not using water cooled instruments we frequently irrigate and monitor the tooth temperature with our fingers. The key seems to be to not use dull equipment that requires excessive grinding and take frequent breaks.
DrO
Member:
Christos

Posted on Tuesday, May 31, 2005 - 5:21 pm:

Thanks, DrO.
Is there an equine dentistry book you can recommend? I am trying to get this guy involved in equine dentistry (along with a vet). He shows great interest. Any recommendations?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 1, 2005 - 5:14 pm:

Hello Christos,
I have about half a dozen books and manuals on dentistry so I wanted to look at them before I answered. Most of them suffer, in my opinion, from too aggressive a recommendations but one of the books was written by one of the recent presenters of some of the updated information on the site and I really liked his "are we really serving the horse and owner" attitude about some of the power float stuff. It is a Mosby book written by Tom Allen and is called Manual of Equine Dentistry copyright 2003. They can be reached on line at www.elsevierhealth.com.
DrO
Member:
Christos

Posted on Thursday, Jun 2, 2005 - 7:55 am:

Found it, DrO, thank you very much.
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