Teeth Floating - make it an annual thing

We've been having our horses' teeth floated every year now for over 20 years. When I ran a large public barn and helped owners with colicing horses, I don't know how many times I asked the owner "when was the last time you had this horse's teeth floated?" Floating the teeth, which is a process using a file to grind down the teeth making them even, allows the horse to more effectively chew his feed. When the horse cannot chew adequately, there is a danger of swallowing larger pieces of feed and increasing chances of a blockade. Floating also removes the hooks and points of the molars which can cut up the inside of the mouth and the tongue, making chewing painful. Floating is not the end all to colic prevention just one of many steps in horse care that the human owner can do to reduce colic chances.

Just a few weeks earlier I was talking to a local gent who just bought a new horse and he asked me when and how I get the vaccinations done. I told him that in the spring I have my Vet come out to do annual vaccinations, draw blood for Coggins tests, and float teeth. When the horses are sedated for the floating you can really get the geldings sheaths cleaned up too. He said while he knew some horses had their teeth filed down, he personally never had a horse who had it done. I told him to trailer his horse over, get the spring vaccinations and ask my Vet to do a quick mouth exam which can be done without sedation. He brought the horse over, the Vet, Dr Amy Starr of Paw 'n Hooves Animal Hospital, looked in this mare's mouth and saw cuts and abscesses. She showed the gent what she was referring to and he committed to getting his mare's teeth floated right then. The Vet also found a segment of a wolf tooth that hadn't been removed and she took that out as well.

There are good hands out there that are not Veterinarians who make their rounds manually floating teeth and some even do sedation, over looking some state laws on non Vets giving these medications. I've used them and been generally happy about their work, then about 18 years ago or so, I met my current Vet who does power floating using a specialized battery powered hand drill with flat rotary ceramic bits to clean up the hooks and points on teeth. Power floating is faster and with less chance of damaging teeth.

Back to years ago at the barn helping someone with a colicing horse - some of the replies on why people do not get their horses teeth floated are the cost involved. But you are also receiving that Vet's experience and practiced eye. Like I said, I combine it with spring vaccinations and Coggins draws and yep, it costs some money alright, but so does calling a Vet after hours on a colic case. I think if you own a horse, you at least owe it a dental exam by a qualified Vet. If you have ever bit your own tongue then had issues with chewing, you'll begin to understand the issue.

One of the better sites, for understand the horse's dental anatomy and issues arising from just the simple and necessary habit of eating, is an information page from Colorado State University.

In the video below, you see a short snippet from a floating. The whole floating didn't take much longer, but maybe if someone had never seen power floating before they will see that is no big deal for a sedated horse.

Horse Health Care - Floating Teeth and Cleaning Sheaths

One of the most overlooked aspects to a Horse’s Health is care of his teeth. A Horse’s teeth will grow or erupt continuously until late in their life,..maybe 27-30 years old. The horse uses his front teeth (incisors) to bite off or grab grass or hay then pull back to their rear teeth (molars) in order to grind up the feed for swallowing.

Because of conformity issues with the horse’s teeth and jaw as well as due to basic diets of less fiber and natural grasses the horse will often not be able to wear down or polish his teeth very well. This creates an un-even bite, or “hooks” and “points” on his back molars and can lead to the horse not being able to chew his feed very effectively, which of course impacts on increased chance of colic. If the “points” and “hooks” are severe enough, they can wear sores on the inside of the horse’s mouth which can cause eating problems and even behavior problems, especially when wearing a halter or bridle. If you have ever broken a tooth and had the sharp end digging into your cheek you know what I mean when I say this can be very painful.

Care for a horse’s teeth, in a field known as equine dentistry, is through a Vet check of the horse’s mouth and teeth “floating” where the Vet rasps or grinds a horse’s teeth back into a smooth and usable condition. Floating teeth can be done “manually” using a rasp or file or the Vet can use an specialized electric drill with a special ceramic type grinding end and this is called “power floating”.

There is a misunderstanding about power floating that it can be very invasive and can tear up the teeth in short order. I have had horse dentist manually and power float teeth. Both are effective, however I would have to say that power floating is not only safer, but more comfortable to the horse and much quicker.

How often do you need to get your horse’s teeth floated? Depends on many factors such as genetics, previous injuries, type of feed they are on,….but to give you an idea, I have my Vet float my horse’s teeth every 14-18 months. The Vet sedates the horse with a combination of Rompum (sp?) and Torbugesic then uses a speculum on a bridle to keep the horse’s mouth open to do the floating.

Signs that your horse needs to have his teeth checked and possibly floated include: eating very slowly; needing more feed than usual to keep weight on; evidence of dropping bolts of partially chewed feed; behavior problems with a bridle, halter or bit; excessive salivating; not liking it when you rub him on the jaw; larger pieces of non-digested feed in his manure. The video below depicts a power floating of the back molars (Floating Part I).



The vet will also correct any problems with the uneven wear on the front teeth (incisors) as well as remove any excessive plaque build up on those teeth. See below video (Floating Part II).



Another overlooked part of Horse Health care for geldings and Stallions is the cleaning of the sheath and penis. A waxy buildup, called a bean, can get lodged near the horse’s urethra and make extension for urination painful as well as the waxy buildup on the inside of the sheath causing pain upon extension. We clean our geldings’ sheaths often and as thoroughly as we can without sedating the horse. But you can imagine how thoroughly you can clean the sheath when the horse is sedated. The third video shows the horse’s sheath being cleaned using water and a anti-septic solution.