Equine Veterinary Dental Services

Equine Veterinary Dental Services Equine veterinary dental practice limited to dentistry and oral surgery. Clinic and farm services.

Dr. Reiswig has been involved in equine medicine since 1988, and has primarily focused on equine dentistry since 2007. In 2010 he achieved the level of Fellow of the Academy of Veterinary Dentistry, one of only 7 veterinarians to reach this advanced qualification. In 2015 he achieved the status of Diplomate of the American Veterinary Dental College and is now board certified in equine dentistry.

Final images of our patient's lower teeth: Again one has expansion of the tooth, this isn't very visible when just look...
02/24/2025

Final images of our patient's lower teeth:

Again one has expansion of the tooth, this isn't very visible when just looking at his mouth. The second has teeth literally full of holes and loss of bone to support the tooth.

The full picture occurs when oral exam findings are paired with radiographs (x-rays). The first horse is experiencing ...
02/24/2025

The full picture occurs when oral exam findings are paired with radiographs (x-rays). The first horse is experiencing "Hypercementosis" also called cemental hyperplasia. The roots of the tooth expand and this is the most dramatic case we've seen. This destroys normal bone.

The second horse has lost teeth and mostly has resorption, or loss of tooth mineral/density.

Extraction is the only known treatment to offer great pain relief for both of these horses

Update to last weeks post: In the first image there is a lot of asymmetry. - The center aspect of the upper teeth and lo...
02/24/2025

Update to last weeks post:

In the first image there is a lot of asymmetry.
- The center aspect of the upper teeth and lower teeth are not in alignment (blue lines).
- The horses upper right side is bulging out compared to the eft side (green arrows).
- The gum line is also highly variable and generally receding (dashed purple lines).

The second patient has very different symptoms:
- There are only four teeth present on the upper jaw and 6 teeth present on the lower jaw (blue arrows highlighting missing teeth).
- The green circles show inflamed gums with fistulas. These are pimple like areas where pus is draining and these are little tunnels to the tooth roots.
- The crowns of the lower corner teeth are pointing the wrong direction, they point forward instead of upward (purple lines).

All of these indicate changes to the teeth, gums, and bones of the jaw. Most importantly they indicate painful dental disease that can be treated.

Our next post will show you what lies beneath the surface and ultimately gives us the true extent of disease present.

Two horses with the same disease and very different signs. The disease is Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hyp...
02/20/2025

Two horses with the same disease and very different signs. The disease is Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hypercementosis or EOTRH.

All clinicians are taught to start with the basics when performing any type of exam.
- Is what I see normal or abnormal?
- Is there symmetry to the body?
- Is something missing or is something extra present?

Whether a vet is doing a lameness exam, oral exam, or ultrasound exam, these are the questions we often start with. What do YOU see in these images of these two patients?

Final step for Gracie the Percheron:Gracie was newly acquired by her current owner which is why this problem had gone un...
01/23/2025

Final step for Gracie the Percheron:

Gracie was newly acquired by her current owner which is why this problem had gone uncorrected for so long. The new owner noticed Gracie dropping lots of food when she ate, and her farm veterinarian did an oral exam to find her problem.

To address the trauma these tall teeth are causing to the lower gums we performed a procedure called a crown amputation. About 1/3 of the excess tooth height was removed. This did not enter the sensitive pulps of the teeth. But, if this had happened we were prepared to treat a pulp exposure and we numbed the teeth before hand to prevent any pain from possible exposure.

Her owner reports, Gracie is eating better. We will see her again in a few months to continue her work and then pass her back to the excellent vet that referred her to our practice.

Our Percheron mare Gracie weighed a full 1880 lbs. But, that wasn't her biggest surprise. She came to us with some very...
01/22/2025

Our Percheron mare Gracie weighed a full 1880 lbs.

But, that wasn't her biggest surprise. She came to us with some very tall teeth! 3.5cm of EXTRA tooth height to be exact.

In her cases this was likely from lack of adult tooth development on both sides of her lower jaw and a fractured lower tooth on the left side. Without a matching tooth above and below the chewing surface is never worn down. It will erupt 2-4mm every year no matter what, with no normal chewing wear, this leads to a very tall tooth!

Radiographs confirmed what is typical, that these tall teeth are healthy teeth, and worth preserving. Notice the deformed bone below the tall tooth.

Check back tomorrow for day 3 of Gracie to see how we treated this. What do you think her treatment should be?

One of our largest patients, Gracie just about filled up our stocks front to back. Take a guess at what this mare weigh...
01/20/2025

One of our largest patients, Gracie just about filled up our stocks front to back. Take a guess at what this mare weighed.

Answer will be posted tomorrow.

There are unique challenges to equine dentistry and every cases is different. Two of this weeks cases highlight some of...
01/17/2025

There are unique challenges to equine dentistry and every cases is different. Two of this weeks cases highlight some of the vast challenges we tackle daily.

Case 1 is a 4 year old mare with several months history of stinky right sided nasal discharge. Her 1st molar is the source and removal is the cure. As a young horse her tooth measured almost 9cm in length!! Her mouth can only open about 4-5cm.
Solution?
Have the right person with the right tools to do the job. This tooth was loosened from the socket, sectioned top and bottom, and then fully removed.

Case 2 is the other extreme, a 24 year old pony with little tooth structure and brittle roots. Every root broke off during extraction. We are well equipped for this. An oral camera, a dental elevator, another minute or two, and these roots were out.

Some horses need bubble wrap. This mare was found in her stall in the morning just chilling with blood on her RUBBER fe...
01/13/2025

Some horses need bubble wrap. This mare was found in her stall in the morning just chilling with blood on her RUBBER feed tub. Her mouth looked a bit funny, flip the lip and oh! A broken jaw, how?!?

The good news is that we are usually able to stabilize these fractures with the horse standing and sedated, avoiding general anesthesia. The bones and teeth are stabilized with wires and covered with an acrylic to protect her lips and gums.

She was backing eating in her stall 2 hours after her procedure and home the next day.

We ended 2024 saying good-bye to some painful teeth in this older gelding. He has a condition called Equine Odontoclast...
01/09/2025

We ended 2024 saying good-bye to some painful teeth in this older gelding. He has a condition called Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption (EOTRH) it made his incisor and canine teeth weak, brittle, and painful. With many of them breaking from normal chewing forces.

We extracted 14 teeth in one visit (all incisors and two canines). One day of surgery and a few weeks of healing time, means he will be entering 2025 free of chronic daily oral pain.

If you have an older horse with broken front teeth, get your vet to take x-rays. Broken teeth are never normal and in an old horse are often due to internal disease and not an outward trauma

To all the barn cats supervising the horse exams, if you fall asleep on the job we won’t tell management. We know you’v...
08/22/2024

To all the barn cats supervising the horse exams, if you fall asleep on the job we won’t tell management. We know you’ve been up since dawn.

This mare gave it all she got running her barrels, but the brakes and steering went out after the exit. Wood post to the...
08/19/2024

This mare gave it all she got running her barrels, but the brakes and steering went out after the exit. Wood post to the face, ouch! 😵‍💫 Thankfully, her rider was uninjured and she came in to see us.

Her lip is now back together and her injured teeth stabilized. She’ll be back to her sprints soon.

Can you spot the problem? This horse has a very long history of difficulty eating and being a "hard keeper". He eats w...
07/29/2024

Can you spot the problem?

This horse has a very long history of difficulty eating and being a "hard keeper". He eats with his head tilted to one side. He has been seen by many "dentists" (non-licensed individuals) who have been unable to improve his condition.

What is the name of his condition and what is causing it?

We identified the underlying cause in a couple minutes by doing a routine sedated oral exam. The radiographs helped us make a complete plan for treatment.

Full answer and case follow-up will be posted tomorrow.

What is capturing the attention of these horses? It is the bright future of our remarkable visiting veterinary student,...
07/27/2024

What is capturing the attention of these horses? It is the bright future of our remarkable visiting veterinary student, Tori Galbraith. Tori has been part of our team for seven weeks, gaining experience and helping treat a wide variety of dental issues. Her enthusiasm is infectious. Tori hopes to enter equine practice and focus on sports medicine. We love that she wants to know about ALL the parts of the horse needed to maintain performance and health.

While Tori still has a few years of studies left, if she ends up in your neck of the woods, you will be in excellent hands.

Happy Saturday! Yesterday, we gave Droopy a dental makeover to complement his natural curls and sweet face. Our technici...
07/20/2024

Happy Saturday! Yesterday, we gave Droopy a dental makeover to complement his natural curls and sweet face. Our technician, Kirsten, gave him a lovely cocktail and we also got his mouth more comfortable after a few extractions.

Remember to include your donkeys and miniature horses in you plans for preventative dental care. We love seeing equids of any size and breed.

Some of you guessed correctly! This horse had a wire embedded in his tongue. These are usually very painful and the to...
06/26/2024

Some of you guessed correctly! This horse had a wire embedded in his tongue. These are usually very painful and the tongue can a become very swollen and infected. Lucky for him, his body created a fistula that led us straight to the wire.

We also got that nasty problem tooth out and treated any other problem areas in his mouth. His owner reported, he is already back riding and feeling great 6 days later.

Can you spot the very unusual non-tooth related finding in these images? If you see it, where in the body is it located...
06/24/2024

Can you spot the very unusual non-tooth related finding in these images? If you see it, where in the body is it located and what is it?

The horse came to us for tooth extraction and we had a bit of a surprise when these images popped up on the screen.

Bonus points if you pick out the diseased tooth.
More details and oral images will be posted tomorrow.

Yesterday's patient was suffering from irreversible pulpitis. Outwardly this manifested as a resistance to rein pressur...
02/27/2024

Yesterday's patient was suffering from irreversible pulpitis. Outwardly this manifested as a resistance to rein pressure on the left side side of his mouth. These cases can often be tricky unless we find an obvious sore or fractured tooth in the mouth, which we didn't find on Bosa.

We did notice abnormalities with both of his upper canine teeth. One never erupted out of the gum tissue and one was only a little bit past the gums. As an 8 years old horse this is 2-4 years past the age these teeth should have fully erupted.
A deep pocket in the gums on the left side was present with a small amount of pus. Radiographs identified an early abscess.

Just like a hoof abscess these are VERY painful. There is a build up of pressure as the pulp tissue swells, but it can't expand due to the hard outer tissue of the tooth.

After extraction the dying pulp tissue was visible at the root end of the tooth and we carefully pulled out the whole pulp. The visual appearance leaves no doubt that this tooth was painful A healthy pulp should be a bright pink color.

We hope Bosa has a truly speedy recovery.

Address

1333 Lundys Lane
Newark, OH
43055

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 4pm
Wednesday 9am - 4pm
Thursday 9am - 4pm
Friday 9am - 4pm
Saturday 9am - 12pm

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+17405873116

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Update to last weeks post: In the first image there is a lot of asymmetry. - The center aspect of the upper teeth and lower teeth are not in alignment (blue lines). - The horses upper right side is bulging out compared to the eft side (green arrows). - The gum line is also highly variable and generally receding (dashed purple lines). The second patient has very different symptoms: - There are only four teeth present on the upper jaw and 6 teeth present on the lower jaw (blue arrows highlighting missing teeth). - The green circles show inflamed gums with fistulas. These are pimple like areas where pus is draining and these are little tunnels to the tooth roots. - The crowns of the lower corner teeth are pointing the wrong direction, they point forward instead of upward (purple lines). All of these indicate changes to the teeth, gums, and bones of the jaw. Most importantly they indicate painful dental disease that can be treated. Our next post will show you what lies beneath the surface and ultimately gives us the true extent of disease present.

Some of you guessed correctly! This horse had a wire embedded in his tongue. These are usually very painful and the tongue can a become very swollen and infected. Lucky for him, his body created a fistula that led us straight to the wire. We also got that nasty problem tooth out and treated any other problem areas in his mouth. His owner reported, he is already back riding and feeling great 6 days later.

Have you ever met a one-mustachioed pirate? Let me introduce you to Pirate Booty, more casually referred to as Boots. He is a recently adopted Mustang living his best well groomed life in Ohio. He unfortunately needs some extra TLC when it comes to his teeth, but we love seeing him. Does your horse sport a mustache? If so, drop it in the comments below. We will add some of our favorites as well.

We love all our patients, but some seek the spotlight more than others. Meet Bennie, the oldest and biggest toddler we have ever met. At somewhere around 25 years old and at least 1500 lbs he really wants some one to PLAY and give him cookies.

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Dr. Reiswig has been involved in equine medicine since 1988, and has primarily focused on equine dentistry since 2007. In 2010 he achieved the level of Fellow of the Academy of Veterinary Dentistry, one of only 7 veterinarians to reach this advanced qualification. In 2015 he achieved the status of Diplomate of the American Veterinary Dental College and is now board certified in equine dentistry. In 2017 Dr. Jason Dickey joined our practice. An experienced equine veterinarian, he is currently fulfilling a dental residency, working toward board certification.