Equine Dental Examination and Teeth Float
What is an equine dental float?
It's a dental procedure performed by a large animal veterinarian. The purpose of floating teeth is to remove sharp points that have developed on the teeth, thereby eliminating soft tissue trauma to the cheeks and tongue, and encouraging an improved and even grinding surface when the horse chews to aid in digestion. Prior to floating the teeth, a thorough dental examination is made to identify any oral or dental abnormalities. These changes are documented in our dental records system, along with intra-oral photographs of the abnormalities. A treatment plan is devised and performed to remove abnormalities and return the horse’s dental structure as close to normal as is possible. Post-floating photographs are obtained and recorded in the dental record to compare to the before pictures and a dental diagram records the treatments that were completed.
Does my horse need a dental float?
If your horse has never had a dental float, the answer is yes. Horses do not have an even grinding surface. The top and bottom arcades (rows) of teeth do not set directly over top of each other and are slanted. Horses chew in a rotating motion, leaving the top teeth outer edges with nothing to grind on, resulting in incredibly sharp edges “enamel points” that wear and cut into the horse’s cheeks, leaving “ulcers” on the horse’s cheeks. On the bottom teeth the inside edge has nothing to wear against, leaving the inside edge incredibly sharp, resulting in trauma to the horse’s tongue, leaving “ulcers.” Horses can produce a “hook” where the first tooth on the top row of teeth and the last tooth on the bottom row have nothing to wear against and that tooth grows longer and cuts into the horses’ upper gums or lower gums and tongue. This also impairs the chewing mobility. The horses’ teeth are not all made of the same strength of the three protective layers. They have different hardness; enamel is the hardest (96-98% mineralized), then comes dentin (70%), and finally cementum (65%.) With this being said, it is very common for a horse to have a “dominant” tooth. This tooth is harder and will wear out the weaker tooth that is opposing it, leaving your horse’s row of molars looking similar to a pumpkins’ smile. If this if not fixed it will impair your horses’ ability to chew. The jaw will lock up, and they will not be able to make the rotational grinding motion.
Why float a horse’s teeth once a year?
A very common misunderstanding is that you do a dental float when the horse is old, losing weight, or dropping feed. It is not only the old horse or those losing weight or quidding that need to be floated. The truth is a horse needs to have a dental exam and float done once a year, starting at a young age. We recommend starting as yearlings. Early and regular dental care for your horse will help to maintain his or her teeth in the best working order and can help prevent extreme dental disease that can often reduce the lifespan of a horse. By having your horses’ teeth floated once a year we are able to correct uneven growth in the teeth and give your horse an more even grinding surface. This will give your horse the opportunity to grow old and be able to chew and maintain their body weight. The teeth are made of different thickness and hardness. When the harder opposing tooth wears away (dominates) the softer tooth, we can fix those if recognized early.
There are a lot of changes that Dr. Holt can correct completely in the horse’s mouth if seen in the early stages. Dr. Holt cannot completely fix severe abnormalities that have developed from years of neglect. He can only safely take off 3 mm of tooth at a time. If you take off more tooth than that, you risk getting into the live pulp of the tooth. He can definitely help even the horse that has never been floated or maintained routinely, but horses with severe oral abnormalities often require multiple, more frequent treatments in order to gradually reduce those changes to work the teeth back toward a more normal mouth. Routine dental care is the best way to ensure longevity of your equine companion.
Sometimes we find the occasional horse that can go two years between dental floats, because they naturally have a dental structure that wears more evenly. If your horse is one of these rare few, Dr. Holt will let you know that you can extend the interval between floats to 2 years.
Personal story
Dr. Holt and I, Jessica, have had between 4 -8 horses at all times. They have varied in ages from our own foals to geriatric. One day I, Jessica, was playing with our foal. I got my hand in his mouth and was able to feel his top teeth on his outside edges. His teeth were like razor blades! Our foal was about 8 months old. Robert sedated him and we looked into his mouth and to our surprise his molars were sharper than our older horses.
We have raised some of our horses as foals and inherited geriatric horses and everything in-between. From our own personal experience, the horses of ours that we have had from a young age and have aged into their 20s, have a perfect even grinding surface and are able to maintain their body weight on just hay. This is because they have always got their dental floats once a year. The older horses that we inherited who did not have previous dental exams and floats have varied degrees of uneven teeth, from dominant teeth and wave mouth, gum disease and missing teeth. These horses cannot maintain their body weight on hay alone. They must be supplemented with grain 2 times a day to maintain their body weight.
We recommend yearly dental floating for your horse.
We do dentals every day on horses, and it always amazes us how sharp the points are after one year.
Some fun articles to better understand dental exams and floating.
A horse’s tooth is made up of four layers: pulp, dentin, enamel, and cementum12. The pulp is the innermost layer and contains vital parts such as nerves and blood supply. This structure is soft and sensitive, and so it is protected by the outer layers1. The horse's teeth are divided into two major sections: the incisors, which are the teeth seen in the front of the horse's mouth, and the cheek teeth, made up of the premolars and molars3.
1. horsesandus.com2. thehorse.com3. aaep.org
