Equine Dentist~ ever seen the inside of a horse's mouth?

[Funky Feathers]

Josie got her teeth floated today. She gets it done once a year, which is a big part of why she looks and feels so good for a 28 year old horse.

 

[redhen]

What does floating mean??

 

[kidcody]

I'm glad your taking care of your old horse, I wish more people did

 

[arabianequine]

Quote:
They file the teeth to make them all uniform for easier/better chewing of their food. Just an overall dental checkup too they can see if any teeth need pulled etc.

Sometimes older horses teeth are in such bad shape they need to be floated it in order to be able to eat properly to maintain their weight.

 

[AngelzFyre]

Horses chew with a side to side motion for grinding in the back. This means that the insides of the bottom teeth and the outsides of the top teeth will get longer "points" on them that will begin to stick into the sides of their mouth and cause a lot of pain. Also they can have other tooth problems like broken teeth or wolf teeth that are in closer to the front teeth and need to be removed so that the bit doesn't hit them when they are being ridden with a bridle.
When they float the teeth, the file..*float* is used to grind down the sharp points and make it where it's more comfortable to chew. Horses teeth grow continuously, but as they age they slow way down and start getting shorter as they wear and don't grow as much. This also adds to chewing problems especially if a tooth is lost or gets worn totally down so that the other tooth grows too long and starts hitting the gum where the worn/broken tooth was.
Like Fattie said, it helps keep older horses in great shape and should be done at least once a year. Sometimes floating more often than that is needed if there are problems, or when they are younger and shedding baby teeth caps and being introduced to the bit.

 

[Elite Silkies]

Shoot Fattie, you guys are all high tech up there.

Here in oklahoma, you should ask how many Okies it takes to hold down a horse and float their teeth

JK but seriously we just twist the nose, pull the tongue and use an electric file.

What does that device do? Never seen anything like it.

 

[rebbetzin]

Oh my! That doesn't look like any fun at all!! I suppose she is used to it after so many years. I wouldn't want to be the first one to do it to a young horse! I but they put up a fuss the first time.

 

[Elite Silkies]

I had a couple that gave no problem at all, just stood there. Others had to be aced, nose twisted and was still hard to get their teeth floated. I think it's probably the sound of the electric file that scares some of them.

I went to the Dentist today, and I almost hyperventilate with the shots, and when he pulled my teeth, yep........ cried like a baby. I wonder if filing their teeth is painful?

 

[arabianequine]

I will never allow my horse to be "twitched" again! Worst thing someone can do....to a baby, never handled. I think it hurts, scares them, and just makes everything worse.

 

[Elite Silkies]

Quote:
I had one that had to be twitched, or we would have had to put him completely down. Unless, absolutely necessary I really don't like having to put one completely down, I think too many times is bad for their health.

I really don't like either way.