UF Animal Forensic Conference 2024: Common Dental Problems in Horses with Diego De Gasperi
We are in person at the 2024 Animal Forensic Conference in Gainesville, Florida! Dr. G will be interviewing several of the speakers to give our audience a bit of the knowledge gained through the presentations. We will be releasing each interview individually to allow our listeners to find topics of interest.
Dr. Diego De Gasperi, Equine clinician and faculty at the University of Florida, helps us understand the uniques needs of horse dental care, common problems, and the consequences of dental disease.
We would also like to invite our listeners involved in animal cruelty investigations to visit and join the International Society for Animal Forensic Sciences https://isafs.org/
Mentioned in this episode:
Keep it Humane Podcast Network
The Animal Welfare Junction is part of the Keep It Humane Podcast Network. Visit keepithumane.com/podcastnetwork to find us and our amazing animal welfare podcast partners.
Transcript
Our next guest is Dr.
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:Diego de Gasperi, thank you for being
here and welcome to The Junction.
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:Diego De Gasperi: Thank you.
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:Thank you for inviting me.
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:Yeah, this has been a great experience.
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:Uh, the first time ever I give
a talk in a forensic conference.
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:So as far as my background goes, I'm
originally from Brazil, went to vet
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:school in Brazil, and since I was a
child, you know, I had horses, I was
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:able to ride horses, and I was already
decided to be an equine veterinarian.
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:So I went to vet school in
Brazil, then ended up coming to U.
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:S.
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:for specialized training in surgery.
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:And I stayed in the U.
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:S.
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:now at UF Vet School as one of
the, one of the members of the
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:large animal surgery service.
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:As far as my background goes, you
know, it includes mostly equine,
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:but also on the farm animal side
as well, specifically in surgery.
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:And in that field, we do, we do
end up, you know, evaluating and
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:treating animals for dental disease,
which was the topic of my talk.
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:Um, and, you know, because
of my training, you know, I.
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:Uh, going to the vet school and train on
the surgery side, I've, I've, um, I have
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:the training or capabilities of diagnosing
and treating animals that have been, uh,
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:injured potentially by a human cause,
which may then help on the forensic side.
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:DrG: Excellent.
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:So what is the, what are the main
differences between companion
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:animal teeth and horse teeth?
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:Diego De Gasperi: Yeah.
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:So the, the main difference I would say
is that the horse's teeth is what we call
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:a hypsodont, it's a very long teeth, a
very long prowl that will continue to
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:erupt, uh, throughout the horse's life.
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:While in small animals, they have
a shorter teeth, similar to humans
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:that do not continue to erupt
throughout the animal's life.
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:And then in the horse, um, the reason
why they have, uh, That long tooth
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:is that, uh, over, uh, during the
course of their life, the continuous
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:grazing, will wear down the tooth
as the tooth continues to erupt.
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:So there's a compensation in there.
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:DrG: So is there, like with dogs
and cats, we think about when they
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:eat canned food versus dry food,
there's going to be a difference.
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:Are the different types of
food that horses eat, does that
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:impact how they wear their teeth?
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:Diego De Gasperi: Yes, um, there's some
controversy about that, but as a, as a
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:general rule, or what we generally believe
is that in horses, there are more confined
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:or a more intensive management where
they don't spend a lot of time grazing.
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:Um, those are horses that, uh, oftentimes
we'll be receiving grain, uh, they don't
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:wear down their teeth as much as horses
that are grazing 13, 14 hours per day out
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:in nature and pasture or even wild horses.
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:So the consequences of that is that
the horses that are more intensive
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:management, they, uh, because of their
infrequent grazing activity, they may
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:have a abnormal wearing of their teeth,
and overgrowth that will form over time.
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:DrG: I don't know a ton about horses.
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:And most of my experience with horses
was during vet school, but I remember
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:about the need to float horses teeth.
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:So can you explain what, what
that is and why it's needed?
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:Diego De Gasperi: Yeah.
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:So because of their continuing eruption,
uh, horses teeth will, and the abnormal
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:wearing wear that will occur over time.
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:Uh, we do recommend floating the
teeth, um, about once a year, at
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:least once a year, some horses
twice or three times a year.
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:And the way we do it, we use either
a hand rasp or a power float or a
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:hand float or a power float in order
to, um, to remove those sharp points.
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:The horse is usually sedated.
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:We use a mouth speculum
to keep their mouth open.
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:And, uh, we do that and, you know,
on the top teeth, especially on
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:the outside and the bottom teeth,
especially on the inner side.
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:In addition to what their
overgrowth of the horses may form
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:in different areas of the mouth.
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:DrG: So I'm assuming that similar
to how lay people and technicians
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:and owners should not be doing
dental procedures on dogs and cats,
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:it's the same thing for horses.
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:Diego De Gasperi: Correct.
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:It's same thing for horses.
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:The horses will have some extra
challenges that the mouth and
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:the horse's head is very long.
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:The mouth does not open as much
as a cat or a dog mouth will open.
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:And, uh, the important things to
remember is that when you do this,
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:uh, floating, uh, teeth floating,
Horses are sedated, uh, which is a
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:particular procedure done, or that
should be done only by veterinarians.
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:And, uh, you need to have a, uh,
good knowledge of the anatomy and
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:the conditions that require floating.
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:Uh, and the areas of the tooth you
should be floating and areas of the
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:teeth you should not be touching because
you can cause major problems if you do.
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:DrG: Are there any issues that can
happen to horses, like congenital
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:problems that can lead to dental disease?
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:Diego De Gasperi: Yeah, horses
can, can have, uh, you know, there
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:are a few things that may occur.
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:Horses, uh, can have a condition
called the parrot mouth.
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:Or the overbite, where the top
jaw is longer than the lower jaw.
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:Uh, and they can have
the opposite as well.
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:Uh, and these horses, while they can
learn how to prehend food, some of
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:these horses will have overgrowth that
will occur at the back of the mouth.
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:As a consequence of that disparity on
length of the top jaw and the bottom jaw.
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:Another condition that may occur is that
horses can be born with extra teeth.
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:We call it supernumerary teeth.
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:And those can over time, uh,
overgrowth from lacking another
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:tooth on the opposite side that will
prevent it from, uh, from overgrowth.
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:So those need to be addressed
either by floating or extraction.
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:DrG: Now, what are going to be
the most common diseases that you
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:see with dental disease in horses?
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:Diego De Gasperi: Yeah, we see, you know,
there's a large variety of diseases we
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:see, but most often we see horses with,
uh, Infection of the tooth roots that can
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:get there and an infection can get there
through the blood or through a periodontal
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:disease or, or, uh, injury to the
tooth crown itself, such as a fracture.
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:So a lot of the infection
infected tooth, we see they,
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:they had a previous condition.
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:There can be an isolated condition
or can cause their infection.
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:One of them is periodontal disease, which
is relatively common in older horses.
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:Uh, they typically form spaces between
their teeth and will trap feed and will
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:cause inflammation of the gingiva and gum.
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:And, um, they can end up
leading to infection of the
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:tooth and the sinus, et cetera.
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:as well.
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:Other common condition is a tooth fracture
that, as I mentioned before, can cause an
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:infection of the tooth, although not all
of them will cause that type of infection.
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:So periodontal disease, teeth fracture,
apical infection, those are the most
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:common diseases we see in our practice.
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:DrG: And what are the clinical signs
when a horse has these problems?
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:Diego De Gasperi: Yeah, so there are
clinical signs that are specific for
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:dental disease, but others that are not.
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:So specific signs of dental disease,
those that are more indicative of oral
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:or a problem in the horse's mouth, would
include, dropping feed, having difficulty
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:while eating, eating very slowly,
Having, pauses while they're chewing.
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:They might be chewing for a little while
and then they stop and then start over.
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:Quidding is one particular, critical
sign, which is basically dropping
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:boluses of, of partially chewed hay.
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:Um, that's also typical of
horses with dental disease.
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:And other, Clinical signs that are
not specific of dental disease,
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:but are commonly found in horses
with dental disease include weight
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:loss, you know, horses with the body
condition is decreasing over time.
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:Horses that are passing with their
feces feed material that have not
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:been chewed properly, such as grain
that is still intact or long steamed,
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:uh, portions of hay or grass that
have not been chewed properly.
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:Some of these can also, you know, this
particular problem can cause, horses
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:can, uh, are more prone to choke or have
colics because of, uh, you know, they're
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:ingesting this partially chewed material.
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:And some others as, uh, nasal discharge
from the sinuses being infected,
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:swelling around the face and nasal,
uh, and, and draining tracts and
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:associated with this type of swelling.
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:DrG: In dogs and cats, when they have
severe dental disease, often like the
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:teeth will rot and fall out and it can
cause a lot of systemic problems, but
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:just the pain and that kind of stuff.
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:But because the roots, I imagine, are
shorter, it's more likely for them to
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:fall off, uh, compared to, to horses.
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:Like what would happen if, if dental
disease is not treated in horses?
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:Diego De Gasperi: Yeah, unfortunately,
because horses have this, uh, this
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:continuous eruption of their teeth,
and this, like you mentioned it, their
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:teeth are unlikely to come off on their
own unless you're dealing with a very
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:old horse with a very short tooth.
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:Uh, this promise tends to be, uh,
perpetuated through all the horses life.
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:So the clinical signs tend to get worse,
or at least remain present for a long
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:time and because of many of these problems
will affect the wear of their teeth.
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:They, uh, you know, the sharp
points, hooks and ramps that
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:will occur tend to get worse.
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:Um, they tend to have, you know,
very regular teeth, um, which we call
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:Wave mouth or step mouth and, again,
those can, can, uh, vicious cycle.
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:They will continue to become a problem.
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:They unlikely will resolve on their own.
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:DrG: So myself not knowing much about
horses, if I was to go get a horse
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:tomorrow, what are the things that I need
to plan for going forward to make sure
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:that I'm properly taking care of that
horse, of the dental health of the horse?
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:Diego De Gasperi: Yeah,
that's a great question.
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:We typically recommend that once a
year visit with your veterinarian for
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:a dental inspection and dental float to
remove any sharp points that are forming.
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:If your veterinarian find that your
horse has a problem associated with their
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:teeth, they may recommend more, um, after
addressing the problem, they may recommend
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:more visits more often and more regular.
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:Um, yeah.
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:dental floats such as two to
three times a year and depending
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:on the condition that they find.
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:So at least one time, once
a year for regular floats.
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:DrG: Excellent.
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:Well thank you so much for
sharing all your knowledge
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:and thank you for being here.
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:It was great talking to you
and learning more about horses.
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:Diego De Gasperi: Thank
you for the opportunity.
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:It was a pleasure.
