This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Colic, Diarrhea, GI Tract » Mouth, Esophagus, and Liver » Disorders of the Mouth and Teeth »
  Discussion on Can't chew after teeth floated
Author Message
Member:
Scooter

Posted on Monday, May 19, 2003 - 8:44 pm:

Hi, Dr. O I had my horses teeth floated today by an equine dentist (who has a great reputation). The old mare can't chew now it all wads up in her mouth and she spits it back out, I am afraid she is going to choke. He said she had a bit of a wave mouth, some points and her front teeth were coming together to much so he notched them? That was the extent of her work. She has tried to eat but can't, could it be pain or does she just have to adjust to her new mouth? I am considering buteing her in the morning would that help? She seemed to be getting a bit depressed about it. I did water down some grain for her and she ate that, I also watered her hay but she couldn't chew that also she has grass pasture but don't seem interested. Thanks for any thoughts on this as this is the mare that had the diarrhea so bad last year and I don't want that mess to start again. The other horses were fine.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 7:47 am:

Hmmm, was a power float used or just regular float blades? It certainly sounds like she is uncomfortable and bute may help but this is not a usual occurance, even with extensive work. If this persists you need to have the vet out to check the mouth.
DrO
Member:
Kathleen

Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 9:15 am:

Diane,
If he worked on her incisors (front teeth), then she very likely has pain. The equine dentist that I worked for always recommended (actually insisted) that the horse get bute for a couple of days after incisor work.
Kathleen
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 6:51 pm:

We do incisor realignments frequently Kathleen, yet I do not remember anyone unable to eat.
DrO
Member:
Scooter

Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 - 10:47 pm:

Hi, the old mare is eating just fine today it must of been her new mouth she had to get used to. She has never been power floated before and it must of been a major adjustment for her. Thanks for you advice! I did bute her
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, May 22, 2003 - 5:04 pm:

Good to hear Diane. Are there others out there who have horses unable to eat after floating? Also what did that mean that he had to notch them, I am unfamiliar with the term.
DrO
Member:
Sunny66

Posted on Thursday, May 22, 2003 - 5:23 pm:

Is notching the same as bit seats?

My guy is fine after floating. He eats hay and grain fine, just doesn't get any carrots til the next day (;)
Member:
Scooter

Posted on Thursday, May 22, 2003 - 11:30 pm:

Hi, Dr.O The way he described it to me was she was long in the front teeth and when she chewed her fronts would lock together ( she did have problems chewing) He said he starts from the side and V nothches them towards the front so her lower fronts start out a little long and he floats them so they are a little shorter going towards the front, same on top I believe but am not sure. Her fronts don't lock anymore and their is a VERY small space between the top and bottom. So maybe it was a major adjustment for her but she does chew much better now. I guess maybe that's where the term long in the tooth came from?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 6:56 am:

I think I understand what you are saying, it is not that the upper and lower arcade lock "together" (prevent the mouth from opening) but that abnormal conformation prevents the upper arcade from grinding efficiently against the lower arcade. It is a major reason for chewing problems in older horses. I have not heard of v notching, we just try to create two incisor table surfaces that are as parralel to the chewing motion as possible.
DrO
Member:
Mwebster

Posted on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 9:30 am:

The terminology ("notching") sounds strange to me, but I suspect Diane's horse needed the kind of work my older gelding needed a few years ago, when I got him. He'd never had his teeth done, and he was 18. Looking at his incisors from the front, the line where they met was a diagonal. He had hooks etc. on the molars, but also waves/steps. He had been chewing just on the right side, i.e. he was locked up on the left. The muscles at the top of his forehead were so different -- prominent on the right, flat on the left!

The dentist had to work a long time on him, first addressing the molars, and balancing the mouth. After that he addressed the incisors. He got a touchup 6 months later, including a little more work on the incisors. His mouth is great now, with just annual floats, he chews on both sides equally now, and the muscles at the top of his forehead are the same.

After the first, very extensive float he was a little sore that day, and I was told hold off on hay for several hours, make a mash out of his grain, etc. He would chew some hay and spit it out. The next morning he was fine.

Melissa
Member:
Dandy234

Posted on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 10:51 am:

My 27 year old gelding had problems eating hay for a couple weeks after a routine floating. The vet determined it was due to the TMJ joint being sore from the mouth being held open by the speculum. We buted him and fed pellets and his mouth and jaw healed just fine.
Member:
Kathleen

Posted on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 1:48 pm:

Our two horses were done recently by a vet and he did minor work on the incisors and they were fine, no problem eating. But the other horse he worked on was in obvious pain later in the day. They were worked on at 9:00am. The owner called me in the late afternoon (they are new to horses) saying that the horse had tried to eat an apple slice, but was very uncomfortable. When I cleaned out her mouth an hour later, she still had the mashed apple slice in her mouth. We buted her and within about an hour she was much more comfortable and was able to eat late that evening. The dentist that I worked for did say that TMJ soreness is not unusual when extensive work is done. (I have TMJ problems and know for a fact that it can be very painful. I have also had grinding done on my front teeth and know that it is also very painful and lasts a couple of days.) I had many calls from clients saying that their horse seemed very uncomfortable and wouldn't eat, and inevitably they were horses who either had incisor work or had more extensive than normal work done.
Kathleen
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, May 23, 2003 - 3:55 pm:

Kathleen were these adjustments done with power tools? As we have stocks and instrumentation we do a lot of referral dentistry with extensive work. While we use full mouth speculums, we rely mainly on hand floats with fresh blades. We do occasionally score with a dremel and cut with molor cutters. We also use a dremel to lightly shape the teeth, but I do not remember having a horse quid afterwards as Diane describes.

This year we have purchased a heavier motorized float instrument. In the past I worried about overheating of the tooth pulp with power instruments but this tool has a channel through which water passes, not only cooling the tooth but also keeping the dust down. It will be interesting to see if we have painful mouths this year when we use it.
DrO
Member:
Kathleen

Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2003 - 9:32 am:

DrO,
Yes the work this time was done with a dremel type tool and it was probably the first time the other horse had had any dentistry done. Like you, the dentist I worked for used only hand floats whenever possible. She had power tools, but would only use them when absolutly necessary. I have seen the result of the bad use of power tools and it isn't pretty. I was surprised when the vet pulled out the power tool for my horses, as they have been done regularly by the dentist. They just needed a touch-up as usual. Although my guys had no problems with the procedure, I have decided not to use this vet for my horses' teeth again. But, as I said, I was the one who got the calls from clients asking about their horse's aftercare and it was usually when they didn't heed her advice about buting. The main thing the dentist was concerned about though was drinking, especially in the winter. Like you, I can't remember anyone having a quidding problem after the floating. Do you do any corrective floating? By that I mean on young horses to minimize a conformational fault?
Kathleen
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 8:20 am:

Yes we do corrective floating.
DrO
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC