Broken Equine Tooth

The dental health of your horse has an impact on its overall health and is an indicator of other health issues. As part of regular veterinarian care for your horse, your veterinarian should take a careful look at the teeth on an annual basis. When your horse has a broken tooth, your veterinarian should fix it as soon as possible.

  1. Causes

    • In the wild, horses eat a coarser diet that wears away the teeth as they chew. Horses raised on a farm, however, have a softer diet that does not require as much chewing. Therefore, their teeth do not wear in the same way, resulting in some teeth growing long protrusions. These protrusions give a horse difficulty when chewing and cause it to change its natural chewing motion, often resulting in broken teeth. In addition to the diet issue, unhealthy teeth are also more likely to break.

    Symptoms

    • While some horses do not show any signs of a broken tooth, many horses give some indication that something is wrong in their mouth. If your horse begins to lose weight or food drops out of its mouth as it eats, it's likely a tooth problem. Passing undigested food in its stool, shaking its head frequently, mouth odor, bleeding and swelling also occur in a horse with a broken tooth. A horse with a bad tooth may be difficult to ride due to irritation, sometimes from the way bridle rubs in its mouth.

    Treatments

    • After your veterinarian inspects your horse's teeth and identifies the problem, he prescribes a treatment. In most cases, he must extract a broken tooth to ensure no further problems. If the horse's gums have become infected due to the broken tooth, the veterinarian prescribes antibiotics to get rid of the infection. Some veterinarians are able to fill the tooth, just as a dentist would for a human tooth. Filling the tooth should prevent infection from occurring in the future.

    Prevention

    • Take steps to prevent your horse from breaking its teeth. Catch problems early with regular dental checkups by your veterinarian. In many cases, the veterinarian files your horse's teeth -- a process called "floating" -- to get rid of any sharp spots or elevated points. Floating a horse's teeth every year or two reduces the risk of broken teeth. Even though dental checkups should be done once a year, if you notice any of the potential symptoms of a broken tooth, contact your veterinarian for an emergency exam.