EQ dentistry interactive cases notes

What are the category one equine dental procedures?

Anyone can do these

What are the category two equine dental procedures?

EDT can carry this out (person who has undergone training)

In which arcade are wolf teeth more common?

• Maxillary

• May be blind (always feel along the bars of the mouth for these)

6-year-old gelding. Owner says he has been ‘balling’ up his hay since switching onto a new batch. What is the most likely cause?

• Periodontal disease due to diastema(ta)

• This is aka quidding (dropping food)

• No clinical signs due to enamel points (this would occur in ridden work if it does)

Why can diastema develop?

• Imbalances in the arcades

  • Tall 308 and 408

  • Rostral overgrowths on 6s and 11s

• Important to rasp!!

• Lower 10/11 and upper 6/7 diastemata common

What is the most common cause of periodontal disease?

Food trapping in the diastema in horses

What does periodontal dx lead to?

When would you consider diastema widening?

• When the horse had already been rasped recently

• Should do this endoscope-guided

What would you suspect in a younger horse (3/4) which is quidding?

Periodontal disease due to food trapping under a loose deciduous tooth (cap)

What are the ddx for quidding horses/ inap horses?

• Choke

• Colic

• Pyrexia

What is being shown here?

• Midline sagittal fracture (due to progression of/ end stage infundibular caries)

• Tooth looks wide and there is food in the middle

What causes infundibular caries and what horses is this often seen in?

• Cemental hypoplasia

• Teenage yrs onwards

What can infundibular caries lead to?

What would you do if you come across a midline sagittal fracture due to end stage infundibular caries

• Refer for extraction to someone able to perform a oral extraction

• Surgical extraction is an option if there are complications (keyhole surgery)

What would you do about this lump, it is hard, the horse isn't showing a clinical signs and it isn't growing or changing shape?

Examine the oral cavity plus radiography

(periapical infection is causing this swelling)

What should you do when you have discharging tracts on the horses face?

Put a metallic marker into the tract when radiographic - helps when getting a second opinion

Infection of which teeth is usually associated with sinusitis?

Maxillary 8-11 teeth

How do you deal with sinusitis?

• Trephination into sinus

• Flush out the infection (may not come out nasally because sinus drain angle blocked due to inflammation)

• Would administer anti-inflammatories

• Then look into the sinus endoscopically (may have solid bits of pus)

What can be an indicator of pulp death?

No dark staining secondary dentine (this is produced by pulp)