HORSE SENSE: Straight from the horse's mouth 06 November 2015 Premium

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06 November 2015

Leanne O'Sullivan on 06 Nov 2015

HORSE SENSE: Straight from the horse's mouth

This week in Horse Sense we sought the advice of an equine dental technician to discuss the necessity for regular equine dental check-ups

Leanne O'Sullivan

6 November 2015

An equine dentist helps to maintain a healthy, comfortable and balanced mouth like Beat Hollow's, pictured here at Ballylinch Stud (photo: carolinenorris.ie)

The horse chews in a circular motion. This causes the horse to develop sharp points on the outside of the upper teeth (termed as the buccal edge). If the sharp edges are left untreated, they may cause soft tissue damage to the horse’s cheeks, damage to the horse's tongue or ulceration, as can be seen circled in this image.

A wolf tooth - Although a wolf tooth is small, it can be very difficult to remove, as some can have large roots that can break easily. This image shows how large the roots of a wolf tooth can be

Deciduous teeth are baby teeth and a horse will lose up to 24 baby teeth from between the ages of 18 months and 5 years

AN animal’s health and well-being is of the utmost importance to their owners.

Part of ensuring a horse’s good health is knowing what it needs and when. It could be as simple as a quiet day in the field after a hard day’s hunting, a call to the vet because of a knock or wound, or having their teeth examined by an equine dentist. It is our job as owners to make the right call and look after our horses to the best of our ability. However, sometimes we may overlook our horses’ dental health. This week, in Horse Sense, I sought the advice of an equine dental technician to explain what it is we should look out for and how we can manage our horses’ dental health.