31/12/2021
Why photos of the mouth are important.
This yearling was brought to me because she had been drooling. The forward-thinking owners wanted to make sure there wasn’t an issue with her teeth.
Upon examination of the teeth, a lesion could be seen in the roof of the mouth as well as tissue aggravation along the upper molars.
I am not a veterinarian and cannot diagnose any sickness, but while there was no obvious cause for the lesion on the roof of the mouth, the aggravated tissue along the upper molars likely indicated that bot fly larvae could be imbedded in those tissues. Rather than diagnose disease of the mouth tissues, it is my job to document my findings so that information can be given to someone with the legal authority to diagnose a problem.
A photo was taken of the lesion in the roof of the mouth and it was attached to the dental chart. This is valuable for a couple of reasons. First, this allows me to document what was in the mouth before I worked on it. Second, if symptoms persist there is a photo to compare with in the future. The owner was encouraged to have a veterinarian assess the lesion. With the likelihood that their vet would ask them to watch for other symptoms and keep in touch with him/her, the owner has a photo to compare with to show whether it is getting better or worse if and when they decide to confer with their vet.
If your dental practitioner isn’t able or willing to photo-document uncommon things that may be found in your horse’s mouth, perhaps you may look for someone who is more thorough. Proper equine dentistry uses multiple technologies to provide your horse with the oral care she deserves!
