Diseases
Step Mouth in Horses
Seek veterinary advice if you suspect this disease.
Step mouth is a dental condition where uneven wear causes one or more teeth to develop a step-like appearance, affecting chewing efficiency and comfort.
Equine malocclusion in Horses
Seek veterinary advice if you suspect this disease.
Malocclusion in horses is a faulty alignment between the upper and lower jaws that results in a misaligned bite because the upper and lower teeth do not fit together properly. Both undershot jaw and overshot jaw are conditions of malocclusion.
Symptoms
- Tilted Head
- Shaking Head
- Swelling
- Difficulty Eating
- Mouth Ulcers
- Gum Ulcers
- Upper and Lower Teeth not touching
- Hooks
- Abnormal Wear
- Nasal Discharge
- Weight Loss
- Reduced Performance
Common in
- Old Horses
- Young Horses
- Ponies
- Miniature Horses
- Arabians
Treatment
Treatment of both undershot jaw and overshot jaw works best if detected by the time the horse is six months old. Wire tension bands from the upper incisors to the first maxillary cheek teeth to slow the growth of the upper jaw sometimes works well to correct an overshot jaw.
Another choice is to have an acrylic bite plane made to keep your horse’s teeth in the position they should be in. This can be kept in place from one week to over a year, depending on your horse’s age and the severity of the problem. A veterinarian can devise a treatment based on the conformation of the horse’s jaws. Careful monitoring is necessary to make sure no adverse effects occur.
Prevention
Careful selection of breeding stock is the best prevention of these conditions.Keeping up your horse’s annual dental exam with an experienced vet will help to identify any problems as they arise.
How Happie can help you manage your horse's health
Digital health management offers numerous benefits in modern equine healthcare.
With the Happie Horse App, you can track symptom patterns and body values, such as Temperature, Pulse and Respiration. Allowing you to notice abnormal changes in body and behaviour early on, leading to more successful treatments.
The Happie symptom checker allows you to add all of your horse's abnormal symptoms in order to present potential causes and diseases.
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