The last couple of months we have been running our annual Winter Dental Special, which was again a great success.

Before starting our dental exam we often ask if your horse is showing any signs of dental pain; like quidding, head tossing, having trouble eating or being more difficult to ride with a bit on one side. The most important thing we have to realise though is that a lot of horses don’t show signs of dental pain! Being a prey animal, it is essential that you don’t stop eating to be able to survive. The majority of patients we encounter do not show any clinical signs, hence this can be hard to detect for owners as well. Horses often just adjust their eating patterns due to pain being present. Normally they alternate chewing on the left and right side of the jaw. When there is a dental abnormality on one side, some horses may chew on the other side. A minority of patients will show clinical signs.

Things to look out for are;

• facial swelling
• reduced appetite
• nasal discharge
• poor performance

Knowing this, we advise to have a dental examination performed on your horse at least once a year. For some horses it can be beneficial to have a dental examination twice a year. Young horses can develop sharp points quickly by their erupting and changing teeth. We also see more pathologies like diastema and periodontal disease in older horses which can benefit from frequent cleaning and correcting of the chewing surface. Regular dental checks allow us to pick up on any issues earlier and intervene quickly before it leads to pain and other more severe pathology. It also means dental treatments are less invasive for your horse.