Floating Teeth, you say? It certainly sounds funny, doesn't it? Floating means to smooth or contour a horse's teeth with a file (called a "float"). Unlike your own teeth, a horse's teeth keep growing. At times, a horse's teeth may develop sharp edges, making it difficult for her to chew food, hold a bit, or simply have pain and discomfort inside her mouth.
"Hey Baby Doll! Come on over here, girl!"
An adult horse may have between 36-44 permanent teeth. And just like humans, a horse gets two sets of teeth in her lifetime. A horse starts out with temporary baby teeth and by age five, will most likely have her full set of permanent teeth.
"Come on Baby, step it up a bit, my pretty lady."
The horse's front teeth cut hay and grass, while the top and bottom cheek teeth grind the forage between the flat surfaces in a sideways motion. This grinding action breaks down the food into a pulp before swallowing which helps it to be digested better. If a horse is unable to grind down food all the way due to uneven teeth surfaces, the unchewed food will not be digested as well.
"Hey Baby Doll, the Vet's here. Hurry up, slowpoke."
"Ok, Mom, I'm here now. Let's get this thing over with, ok?"
This is a cut-out side view of a healthy horse skull, including teeth.
Most often, points develop on the upper cheek teeth toward the outside of the mouth next to a horse's cheek. And on the bottom cheek teeth toward the inside of the mouth next to a horse's tongue. These points can then cut into the cheek and tongue making a horse uncomfortable.
Confined horses or those that do not have the ability to graze all day are more prone to teeth overgrowth, as they are not naturally grinding their teeth all day to keep them smooth. Also, just like you, a horse can have other dental problems. A horse can have excessively worn teeth, loose or broken teeth, or infected gums.
Here's a photo of a horse with jagged teeth hooks that caused painful mouth wounds. Pretty graphic.
The vet or equine dentist will carefully file the horse's teeth to smooth and achieve a flat grinding surface. The vet typically sedates the horse to make her relaxed. A special halter is put on and a mouth speculum is used to keep the horse's mouth open.
The vet will then either manually file the horse's teeth using a rasp in a back and forth motion to flatten the high points, or may use a power tool. The whole procedure is quick and painless - taking about 15 to 20 minutes to complete.
Here's our Vet of East Mountain Equine preparing to float Baby Doll's teeth. First he rinsed out her mouth to remove any leftover food, and then he opened her mouth and then set to work as I held my brave girl. He checked out her teeth and let me reach inside her mouth to feel, too. We both felt several sharp points, but thankfully no hooks.
If you're like me, you cringe at the thought of someone filing away on your teeth with a rasp. You can imagine the shooting pain from the nerves in your teeth. Personally, the dentist can't give me enough Novocain to make me feel comfortable before poking around or drilling in my mouth.
This was my first time seeing a horse get it's teeth floated, so I was very impressed with how quiet and trusting my horse was. Even with that loud drill rasp in her mouth, if she became concerned, all it took were calm words from me "It's ok, Baby" and she relaxed.
How often floating is necessary varies quite a bit from one horse to another. Some horses seem to have slower-growing teeth and may require floating only once every several years while others may require floating every few months. Even if a horse does not require her teeth to be floated often, it is still a good idea to have a horse's teeth and gums examined once a year.
Unlike us, a horse's nerves end close to the gumline, so there is no nerve where the tooth is being worked on, and therefore does not feel any nerve pain. We humans should be so lucky.
The Vet checked Baby Doll's teeth to be sure they were smooth, and then let me reach in to feel, too. I was pretty impressed and amazed.
"Look at my beautiful teethers, Mom!"
Afterwards, I returned Baby Doll back to her paddock and then paid my bill. "Hey Mom, I feel kind of woozy".
"Thanks Mom. My mouth feels so much better now"
If you own a horse and aren't sure whether your horse may need their teeth floated, here are a few signs to look for:
Drops food from mouth
Exhibits difficulty in chewing
Excessive salivation
Loss of weight
Undigested food particles in manure
Head-tossing
Excessive bit chewing
Resisting having the bridle put on
Difficult handling while riding
Mouth odor
Blood in the mouth
Face swelling
Nasal discharge
But remember that horses are adaptable creatures, even if they are having discomfort, and some will not show any signs of dental problems. Having a horse's teeth floated is well worth it so she digests her food better, is in better spirits, and makes riding more enjoyable for both human and horse.
So, do you have any floating stories to share?
29 comments :
I have recently switched to a new vet, and he used a drill and that cool halter thingy too!! So very neat!! I love it when they break out the drill, they can get back farther! Way better than the old rasp. And the drill is faster too.
F is for FUN!!!
I have Daisy's teeth floated once a year, but we have a regular equine dentist do it, not our vet...he doesn't use one of those metal thingies in her mouth...he just does it straight. It's so cool to watch, Daisy seem to actually like the floating, and she leans into it trying to get more. The man himself is like a horse whisperer! lol
I'm glad Baby Doll did so well! She's such a pretty girl...oops, I've already said that.
F is for Funky.
:D
Thanks for explaining that. I never really knew what floating was, for sure. She's sure a good girl, that Babydoll! Thanks for another FACT FILLED post!
Fantastic floating teeth story. I had no Ideal they had so many teeth. Now I am caught up. Have a great week end. Hope you are feeling better.
Grammy
One of our vets has a specialty in equine dentistry and she checks all our horses' teeth twice/year. She just floated everyone in October.
F is for fretful - ME when I have to deal with that many procedures in a day! Not my favorite thing at all.
I hate to be a spoil sport. You can delete my comment if you like.
Vets often simplify the growth of horses teeth by saying they grow all the time. They don't. They are fully formed before they ever erupt as adult teeth. They just continue to erupt for 15 to 20 years or so, before they run out of tooth and fall out. The first molars to erupt in a young horse will be the first that fall out in an older horse. That is how you tell the age of a horse by the teeth. As they wear down and erupt, different parts of the tooth structure are exposed and you can guess how long the tooth has been wearing and erupting.
Cattle, sheep, and goats are the same. Rodents and rabbits have teeth that grow all the time. New tooth material is always being formed, like your hair and fingernails.
Your friend and loyal reader,
PITA(Pain In The Aftmost)
Fabulous Lesson!!!
I sure do enjoy school "more better" this way. :)
Lisa, you are so FUNNY! Good informative post, though. thanks!
Thanks, Lisa. I learned a few things as well. I especially liked your diagrams.
We have our horses checked each spring and they seem to do fine.
Regards,
Dan
Feeling my mare's teeth for the first time was crazy. The dentist had me stick practically my whole arm in her mouth!! We've been fortunate enough to have two great equine dentists. The first one we had would sedate all the horses just for the sake of time and to make them confortable. The second one that we have now doesn't like to sedate horses unless he has to or if they are starting to act stressed. With my crazy girl, who used to have to be doped up to even get her feet done, I thought for sure he'd have to sedate her or she'd go crazy with that thing in her mouth or him sawing on them with the rasp. Miraculously, she was totally fine. He said it's good for horses to experience things, but not to the point that they stress and panic.
I did find out something interesting. He said she has an extra tooth!! He said there must have been some sort of trauma when she was younger and the tooth just died and stayed where it is. Her teeth are a little crowded on the one side, but it's only like a 1/2 tooth. He said that it shouldn't bother her and there's not reason to take it out now because all of her other teeth shifted to fit it and it would just leave a hole now.
Fantastic post :)
Im not sure why, but once my old vet floated Lester's teeth with no drugs and I got to "try" and hold him still. He whipped me around like I was nothing, I was so sore the next day!
I just remember that when my vet came for floating that something else got done too--sheath cleaning. He figured that since they were partially sedated that he wouldn't be given any trouble. My horse's stable mate was full of spit and vinegar, despite being sedated. The vet started to clean the sheath and got a cow kick, square in the hip. We really all had to laugh despite all the cussing by the vet. It just seemed so impossible---the horse couldn't keep his eyes open or his head up, but could land a kick. :)
F is for Fox
Baby Doll was so brave! I hate when the drill comes out myself, it Freaks me out!
Fascinating, Lisa! I had my horse in the fifties and remember hearing nothing about Floating teeth!
I Love your pictures, and I'm amazed at the calm way your horse took this procedure.
I FEEL lucky to have FOUND an awesome blogFRIEND like you! :)
(there those are my "F"'s)
As for floating, I, personally, prefer a good vet/eq.dentist that can use hand tools effectively.
I've heard too many mixed reviews on powerfloating (the kind of float done with high speed tools).
I've read that the speed of the drills can cause too much heat to be built up in the tooth enamel which could cause problems (inconclusive last I read).
I also prefer not to drug my horses if possible, especially Cessa due to her advanced age. Our equine dentist doesn't give a horse any drugs if he can avoid it. He is a true "old timer" horseman. He's bred, showed, trained horses for years. In his older years he took an equine dentistry course. He has a fabulous way with horses and usually can work on a horse without drugs.
Yet another FABULOUS post my FRIEND...lol!!!
I have helped float more horses teeth than you could imagine, and I also detest the rasping/filing sound.
I love that you vet is wearing camo pants...teeheehee!!!
My Vet does my teeth floating too (well, not MINE, but my past horses and now my donkey). I find it fascinating to feel the before and after teeth. Jasmine, the donkey, actually let him look in her mouth and feel around on her teeth without anyone even holding onto her halter I was impressed! We'll see what happens when she actually needs work! :)
My Vet does my teeth floating too (well, not MINE, but my past horses and now my donkey). I find it fascinating to feel the before and after teeth. Jasmine, the donkey, actually let him look in her mouth and feel around on her teeth without anyone even holding onto her halter I was impressed! We'll see what happens when she actually needs work! :)
Boy am I glad chickens don't have teeth! Baby Doll was very brave. It would have taken 6 burly Swedes and a strong boy to hold me down for that! Thanks for the education in horse tooth floating.
Again, you have taught me much.
My F word is fudge, fudge brownies, fudge ice cream, fudge...oh, I said Word not words!
What a courageous animal. Beautiful post.
Amazing stuff I learn today! Hey this is even better than Discovery Channel :)
Fascinatingly fabulous post!
Ah this takes me back, I used to work with horses and it was definitely one of my least favorite things when the vet came to rasp teeth. As you said, it is hard to imagine anything worse than having someone file your teeth!
Lisa, I'm having Sunny's teeth floated next week. He has many sharp points and makes a lot of noise when he chews..and of course drops grain from his mouth. Thanks for the great timely post.
Lisa, This was so interesting! There is so much work with owning a horse, and they are actually delicate creatures (people who just see them in the movies think they are iron-clad!) so I know I couldn't own one. When I was a little girl we lived in Bainbridge Md (went to Annapolis later) and we knew some people who had horses out in the country, so I did get to ride some. They had a shetland pony that was coal black with red highlights that appeared when sunlight hit her, and her name was Shadow. I wanted that pony so much, but of course we lived in base housing, so it was out of the question. My husband thinks it is SO cute, but I told my parents we could keep Shadow in the bath tub! :-) Anyway, if someday I own a burro, I will be happy with that. I love horses, though.
Marie
Argh! I knew I couldn't keep up with your daily alphabet posts. I'm going to try to catch up. F is for Friend.
My only teeth floating story would be that my horses are so hyper that they each require 3 or 4 shots of tranquilizer before a float. They get so woozy that one person has to hold them by the head while another holds them by the tail so that they can keep their balance and stay standing.
Wow! Yes, we human should be so lucky. I hate going to the dentist for ANYTHING. Can't imagine this.
More good info. We do not live where we could have a horse, but if we could, something to know about in the time/expense department!
F is for Fantastic Floating Lesson! Thanks for sharing :-)! We usually have the dentist come around every spring. But I like to try and stay on top of my horses' teeth with the use of Equine Dentistry Rasps usually once or twice a year before each annual appointment. I find this helps the horse get used to its teeth being looked at as well as maintaining the gnashers!
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