Routine Teeth Rasping and Extractions

Dentistry

When a veterinary surgeon performs a proper equine dental examination the teeth and skull are examined for any over growth and abnormalities. The overall aim is to provide a grinding surface that the horse can effectively use to perform the first stage of the digestion process. In extreme cases the mouth may be so distorted that the horse will not be able to chew at all, this often is noticed when the horse begins to lose weight and drop feed (quidding). 

Equine teeth are called “hypsodont” which relates to the fact that they continue to erupt throughout their lives. Grinding grass, hay and other forage wears them down by approx. 2-3mm a year. Uneven wear and modern nutrition can cause dental problems including sharp enamel points, diastema and fractured teeth. Some horses show signs such as quidding (dropping food), headshaking, nasal discharge or problems being ridden when they have dental disease. Other horses will show no signs and continue eating despite severe dental disease.

We recommend that your horse has their teeth checked at least annually. If they are a competition horse or have had previous dental problems then they will need assessed every 6 months.

We will complete a full oral examination and dental rasp using both hand and power rasps. If any problems are identified we can potentially investigate further with X-rays and can perform dental extractions if needed. In the majority of cases a light and inexpensive sedation is required to perform a thorough oral examination and rasp.

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Please note that only vets are legally allowed to administer sedation or to extract any teeth (not equine dentists or dental technicians). We are happy to work with your usual equine dental technician should sedation or  advanced treatment be required.