Dental Care Essential For Good Equine Health
Dental care may not be the first thing you think of if you own or train a horse, but experts are eager to stress the importance of good oral health for horses.
Horse’s teeth grow between 3 and 4 millimetres per year to compensate for the wear and tear caused by chewing and grinding food; sometimes, the edges of the teeth can become sharp and jagged and this can cause discomfort and pain. Dr Ben Schroeder, from Cedar County Veterinary Services,Nebraska, said that horse owners should arrange dental care for their horse by the time they reach the age of one year old and appointments should be frequent.
Dr Schroeder said that young horses have softer teeth as they are still gaining calcium and this means that they can become jagged quicker, which could cause pain in the cheeks and when the horse eats; as a result, regular checks are essential. Equine dentists can use tools to grind and smooth the surfaces and edges of the teeth to prevent any pain.
The procedure, which involves using a power drill, sounds painful; however, horse teeth do not contain any nerves and therefore they feel absolutely nothing.
Dr Schroeder said that most dental problems in horses are caused by sharp edges on the teeth; a common sign of wear and tear is a horse throwing its head back when you are riding it.
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