Dental Vet

01/10/2025

A chipped canine, which has resulted in the pulp becoming exposed (see arrow on second photo). Luckily for this patient, the pulp has sealed off further down and a probe cannot be inserted down into the sensitive structures of the tooth past 1mm. We’ll be monitoring this closely for now to ensure nothing changes in the future and this patient stays comfortable and happy.

25/09/2025

‘Caps’ in horses: Here's a good example of an upper 6 'cap' with the adult tooth peeking out from underneath it. 🐴🦷

In young horses, ‘caps’ refer to the deciduous (baby) teeth that are shed as the permanent tooth erupts into the mouth. Due to the underlying permanent tooth pushing against them physically, and the loss of the blood supply, the roots of these teeth are resorbed, resulting in a thin, cap-like tooth - hence the name ‘cap’. Once the weakened deciduous tooth becomes loose, it is shed and falls out of the mouth.

Horses typically have 24 deciduous teeth, which are eventually replaced by permanent teeth over the first 5 years of their lives. These caps are shed at varying times to make space for up to 44 permanent teeth in the mouth.

The shedding of caps is a natural process, which we don’t interfere with. However, we can encounter issues with ‘caps’ when they are retained (not lost). This can result in discomfort, food trapping (leading to periodontal disease), or even interfere with the permanent tooth erupting, potentially resulting in malocclusion.

23/09/2025

20/09/2025

Cuddles and scratches with aunty Tara!

Lumi was loving his cuddles and kisses (and I think Tara might have been enjoying them a just little as well...!)! We actually decided to do another procedure after we had finished his dental and had popped him in the stable- and he walked straight back into the crush! So lovely to see our regulars so comfortable at the clinic. We work hard to make it a positive experience for our patients, keeping it as low stress and positive as possible. Happy, relaxed horses make our job so much easier as well, definitely the best outcome for everyone! 😊

17/09/2025

How is that for an excessive transverse ridge!
This lovely boy had some periodontal disease (feed packing between the teeth causing infection under the gum- red arrow). Whenever we see this, we certainly treat the periodontal disease itself (remove all the rotten feed material, disinfect the pockets of infection under the gum, measure the depth of the pocket and treat further depending on the depth) but the other important part of treatment is looking for reasons why the feed is getting stuck in there in the first place! There are often multiple contributing factors that need to be addressed but one thing we always look out for is excessive transverse ridges on the teeth themselves or teeth opposite.

It is completely normal for each cheek tooth to have 2 'transverse ridges' running across the tooth (green arrows). This provides the rough grinding surface for them to chew with and is very important (we certainly DON'T want to flatten these! Try crushing grains between 2 completely smooth tiles... not very effective!). However sometimes these ridges can get quite tall and particularly if they fall opposite a gap between the teeth in the opposing arcade, they can act like a wedge- wedging the teeth apart and forcing feed down into the gap between the teeth- leading to periodontal disease.

So when we see these, we do reduce them- just back to the height of the other transverse ridges so they maintain the rough grinding surface but reduce the pressures that can lead to periodontal disease. Subtle adjustments can have a huge impact long term on treating and preventing periodontal disease, and prevention is what we are all about at Dental Vet!

15/09/2025

The start of peripheral caries and the association with periodontal disease.
This lovely boy still has the peripheral cementum (thick yellow part) on the sides of most of his teeth but as you can see, it is starting to eat away the cementum between the teeth. Clinically this is a big problem as it creates gaps between the teeth, which allows feed to pack in between the teeth. This feed then rots in there causing infections under the gum (periodontal disease) and also adds to the caries (decay) as the acid producing bacteria have an 'all you can eat buffet' right there against the teeth. So as they eat the sugary feed and produce acid, this demineralises the teeth and the decay continues- creating a bigger gap between the teeth, which allows more feed to pack in there... and the cycle continues. 😢

Early intervention- treating the periodontal disease, changing the diet, possibly adding the peripheral caries treatment feed supplement to help buffer the acid, in some cases fluoride varnish to help treat the caries can make a huge difference and hopefully halt the progression before it deteriorates.

11/09/2025

As requested! The 'prequel' to our post yesterday! As much as I said 4hrs of treatment was compressed into 1.5mins, it was also weeks of planning prior to the procedure to give us the best chance of success. So what did we find in the mouth that led us to realising that this lovely boy needed a root canal?

Well our wonderful Dr Tory noticed on her thorough oral examination at his routine dental appointment that one of his teeth had fractured off a corner (orange arrow) and very unluckily for him it had fractured through the protective layer overlying the pulp cavity (first image, red arrow). This then meant that the pulp was open, allowing feed and bacteria to enter the pulp system (where the blood vessels and nerves should be), causing infection in the tooth. Dr Tory also noticed that the protective layer overlying 2 other pulps on the tooth also looked abnormal (third image, 2 red arrows) so we were concerned that the tooth was in trouble.

There were changes on x-rays (schlerosis around the root), but they were relatively subtle, and after discussing the options with the owner, we recommended a CT scan- to give us more information on the health of the tooth, and also because if a root canal treatment was required, the CT scan would be critical for our planning. A huge thank you to the wonderful team at Equine Services at The Animal Hospital, Murdoch University and in particular Dr Josie who not only spent a lot of time isolating and measuring the canals for us but also gave up her time later for us to go through the images together in detail to be able to properly plan for the procedure.

From the CT scan we could see that pulps 1, 2 and 3 were all open and required treatment, culminating in his root canal treatment shown in the video yesterday!

Fingers crossed it will be successful and we can save the tooth!

08/09/2025

Zacharia was a bit sad when he didn't need his teeth done this time! After treating his brother, as we were starting to pack up he came over to the crush and put his head in like he wanted a turn!

We take it as the biggest compliment from our horsey friends when they actively want to participate and come over to us! We have been doing Zacharia's teeth for many years so he knows the crush well and to see him come over of his own accord and want to be a part of it was so lovely to see. ❤️❤️ We take pride in doing everything calmly and gently and always try to make it as positive for our patients (and clients!) as possible.

05/09/2025

Some lower canines extracted by Dr Kirsten due to equine odontoclastic tooth resorption and hypercementosis (EOTRH).

Although the affected teeth appeared relatively normal on oral examination with no overt signs of clinical pathology, the radiographic findings revealed extensive subgingival changes consistent with EOTRH.

The discrepancy between the external appearance and radiographic pathology highlights the importance of radiographic assessment in suspected cases of EOTRH, especially when clinical signs are subtle or even absent.

03/09/2025

A decent amount of calculus on this lower canine. Very satisfying to remove at this horse’s dental appointment to check the underlying tooth and gum is normal and healthy with no signs of EOTRH.

01/09/2025

Some common things we see in young horse’s mouths: wolf teeth, caps, ulceration from sharp points and erupting teeth.

Until horses are about 5 years of age, teeth are being shed or erupting into the mouth about every 6 months, which is why we recommend they get seen quite regularly during this period of time.