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  Discussion on Cross bite
Author Message
Member:
swancott

Posted on Sunday, Feb 11, 2007 - 6:50 pm:

Dr. O,

A friend of mine recently had her quarter horse gelding floated by an equine dentist that works at Santa Anita race track in CA. The horse is between 6 - 10 yrs of age. She claims that five months after he was floated, she came out and found him in great distress. He was unable to move his jaw and his lower teeth were "stuck" on his upper teeth so that the upper teeth were actually caught inside the upper teeth, according to her description. She could see the lower left row of teeth outside of the upper teeth. She left him for awhile and when she came back it had resolved and he was relaxed and eating.

I've seen the horse standing in his pasture and he seems to have good weight and looks healthy overall at least from fifty feet away.

After this episode, she thought the floating was to blame (five months later, with no apparent problems in between), so she trailered him to a vet she (and I) have used in another town. The vet told her he had a "cross bite" and it was indeed because of bad dental work. He worked on the horse extensively with a power file and she has had no trouble since, although it's only been a couple of weeks.

Have you heard of this condition, "cross bite"? Is what she described likely to have happened? Can a horses upper teeth somehow jam into the lower ones? Also, would floating even affect such a condition if it did exist?

Thanks, Vanessa
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Feb 12, 2007 - 6:40 am:

A crossbite is where the occlusal surface of the teeth meet the opposing teeth in a abnormal way, a malocclusion. The teeth meet the opposing teeth either to much toward the middle (lingual), the outside (buccal) or in the case of the incisors, forward or backward. There are many ways this can happen and it can be either the incisors or the cheek teeth, one tooth or a whole arcade.

I personally have a hard time picturing a horse's teeth becoming "stuck" because of a "float induced crossbite". But even if this did occur the criticism is based on looking at the teeth and since he did not know what the dentist started with, how can he judge what was caused by the dentist and what was already present?
DrO
Member:
swancott

Posted on Monday, Feb 12, 2007 - 12:42 pm:

I agree. The problem here is that we have a person (the owner of the horse) that doesn't really understand much about horses let alone equine dentistry, and all of the information is coming through her. However, my underlying issue with this is that she is also calling everyone she knows with a horse and saying that the dentist, who also happens to be my dentist, is incompetent. This is distressing since we are lucky to have him and he is the only person in our area that will come to the horses to do their teeth. He has done two of my horses and is coming today to do the third and I have not had any problem so far. He did miss an uneven tooth on one of my horses, but when I noticed he was chewing funny, I called the dentist back and he came right out and fixed it, no charge. I've had a flood of people calling me from our local equestrian club all panicked about using this dentist after this woman told them what happened to her horse. The whole thing sounds a bit weird.

I think I'll go with my gut feeling on this one, and stick with the dentist -- he has more credibility!
Thanks, Vanessa
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 13, 2007 - 7:14 am:

I think our article Horse Care » Horse Management and Procedures » Equine Dentistry does a good job of giving you the knowledge for judging dentistry. I am worried about your comment of odd chewing: a mouth abnormality that significant should have been noticed as it really takes a gross defect to change the way a horse chews, but this is explained in the article.
DrO
Member:
jockyrdg

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 13, 2007 - 7:32 pm:

Hello Vanessa, I don't think I'll be putting out any fires but can add a personal experience. The barn had a local dentist float their horses for years. He also never used a speculum and we also had a horse that started tripping and falling down. For a variety of reasons I used a dentist (Bill) that worked under and for vets and was recommended by them. When the barn dentist missed an appointment and Bill graciously covered he became very upset with the "tripping" horse's mouth. Turns out that the back molars were never sufficiently floated and the horse developed a tooth structure that "locked" the jaw when ever his head was flexed onto the vertical. He couldn't then use his head and neck properly to maintain his balance cross country. It took several floatings to clear things up and the tripping cleared up also. I guess the point is that things can indeed go wrong in the mouth, even with a dentist . The other thing to remember is that there is no certification program for equine dentists. Yes, the school they went to "certifies" them but who certifies the school. Many just pick up the trade on their own. Looking for the following things may help evaluate a dentist. Does he use a speculum to open the mouth? I know Dr. O feels this is not necessary, but it indicates to me that the dentist wants a really good look at what is going on. Does work on the fronts and the molars, move the jaw to check the bite movement, check the gums for disease, and does he discuss his findings with you?
Equine dentistry is a huge can of worms right now in most states as anyone can call themselves a dentist. It will be interesting to see if the occupation gets some regulation and certification.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 14, 2007 - 7:53 am:

You misunderstand my position Beverly. It is true that many horses are perfectly fine to get a good look at the mouth and allow you to float without a speculum.

However some horses will have to be tranquilized for a good exam and the rare horse require a speculum for an examination. It depends on the horses behavior.

There are many problems however that require a speculum to correct. Dentistry has always been an important part of our practice and we currently get referrals because of the stocks and power equipment we have. But the idea every horse needs a speculum (just like the idea that horses need a twice yearly dental exam or even that most horses need yearly floating) runs counter to my over 20 years experience and having floated thousands of horses. There is also no research that supports such aggressive dental care for more see the article on dentistry in the care section.
DrO
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