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.

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.