Tooth-Care Trends

Learn to separate dangerous trends from tried-and-true techniques in equine dental care to help keep your horse’s teeth in optimal shape.

- BARB CRABBE, DVM

How long have you owned a horse?

Thirty years or more? You probably remember your veterinarian “floating your horse’s teeth” with a bucket of water and couple of hand files that he used to smooth down sharp points. Your vet kept your horse’s mouth open by pulling your horse’s tongue to the side. If that didn’t work, your vet might have slipped a small metal device between the molars on one side that prevented your horse from biting down. Most horses tolerated the procedure without sedation.

Twenty years? “Floating” rapidly became “dental balancing,” complete with power tools and a large metal speculum in your horse’s mouth to hold it open. Major adjustments were made to your horse’s bite that often involved cutting down the incisors (front teeth) to improve the contact of the molars (back teeth). This procedure was often necessary due to the amount of tooth removed from the surface of the molars. Sedation was almost always necessary. Because many vets weren’t comfortable with this type of dental care, “lay dentists” became popular and often traveled from town to town or even state to state to perform dental work.

Ten years or less? The pendulum has swung back after veterinarians began to recognize the severe tooth damage that resulted from overly aggressive dental work. Power tools and a full-mouth speculum are still the norm—along with routine use of dental mirrors or even a specially designed oral endoscope that allow your vet to perform a thorough and detailed examination. Skilled dental practitioners avoid excessive tooth removal and damage. Sedation is still almost always necessary for a thorough dental exam and treatment—and dental expertise is a huge component of many veterinarians’ training.