Correct and Complete Equine Dental Care.
Equine Dentistry is one of the single most important management practices which we can provide for our horses. If it is correctly done over a horse’s life span, it can prolong their working life, dramatically improve their performance, improve many of their body functions, help prevent disease, and have a tremendous beneficial influence on their overall quality of life. Horse’s with poorly maintained teeth, will show more signs of pain, lameness and neurological imbalances than a horse that has been correctly maintained and balanced throughout its life. More than half of a horse’s performance problems may be related to or exacerbated by dental problems.
A horse is designed to graze for at least eighteen hours each day. This involves biting off the grasses with their incisors or front teeth, and then grinding the feed with the molars or back teeth. The food, after being bitten off by the incisors is rolled into a long cigar shaped wad as it is taken down one side or the other of the dental arcade. It is communited through the dental arcade until it has a very fine chaff-like appearance, which is able to be accepted through the esophagus and into the horse’s stomach, and so on. Horses which are fed fine hay, chaffs and grains merely grind their food with their molars, without the need to first bite off the fodder as they would if they were in a grazing situation. Therefore the molars, in general, receive more wear through mastication than do the incisors. This results in a gap between the upper and lower arcades of the molars. This “gapping” can also occur with incorrectly trained practitioners “over floating” the dental arcades.
The horse compensates for a gap between the upper and lower molar arcades by changing from using the Masseter Muscles (which create a side to side grinding action of the molars) to using the Temporalis Muscles (which are used for up and down movement of the jaw). This in turn affects the Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) which is where the jaw connects to the skull. Any unbalances in the TMJ can cause severe pain to the horse. TMJ problems can also cause neurological dysfunction because all of the data from the rest of the body are modified by the TMJ. It has more nerve endings than any other joint. The TMJ and jaw are closely involved in feeling balance, emotions and the general sense of the body’s well being, as facial muscle balance is integral to part of these functions.
Many top riders can feel minor changes in their horses’ performance associated with the mouth, and feel the need to have their horses’ teeth balanced as often as every four to six months. Proper dentistry is a huge safety issue when riding horses. Occlusion management in the teeth of horses plays a very integral part in the level of their performance. High performance human athletes are now including occlusion management to help with their balance also. A horse’s total overall body balance is directly connected to his TMJ which is governed by the tooth balance within his head. A very good reason for all horse owners to use only correctly trained equine dentists who have a firm understanding of the intricate balance and occlusion aspects of dental equilibration.