Everything Horses and Livestock® Magazine August 2020 Vol 5 Issue 3

Everything Horses and Livestock Magazine ®

effects that can be experienced from the actual process of losing teeth. Even though horses have no nerve endings in the actual tooth, there is a considerable amount of live tissue such as gums and dental cavity connective tissue which is damaged or eliminated in tooth loss. When you damage live tissue, pain is involved. It is unreasonable to think that

there is not a good possibility of some change in performance or attitude when tooth loss is occurring. Also, the last part of the tooth to erupt into the mouth tends to be a little brittle in many cases. This allows this “stub” of a tooth to fracture or split. The sharp surfaces where the fracture occurs can be very painful to the cheeks and tongue. Lastly, when a tooth is lost, the opposing molar will continue to erupt into the mouth. Since there is nothing present to wear it down, it will continue to erupt up into the space vacated by the lost molar. This results in a condition called “step mouth” which is comparable to the remaining tooth acting as a dead bolt in a lock, inhibiting the side to side grinding motion. Bottom line is……..Just because your horse is getting old doesn’t mean that the need for regular dental care ceases.

They should be checked on a very regular basis. You may also have to change the diet to allow for less grinding and easier digestion in their diet. With proper attention, your old folks can still be quite useful and willing companions for a number of years past their mid- twenties.

27 Everything Horses and Livestock® | August 2020 | EHALmagazine.com