My mare typically gets her teeth floated twice a year. Now that she’s pregnant, I’m wondering if it’s best to do her dental this month or just wait until after she foals (foal is due in May). She was done last in February.
Not sure how sedation will affect her pregnancy? Or is it considered safe?
I would check in with Equine Reproduction. I was told that you needed to refrain from sedation until after a certain amount of time in the pregnancy. My mare turned out to not be pregnant so I can’t remember the time frame.
When I was in this situation, my vet recommended we just wait until after the foal was born. We intentionally floated her the month just before she was bred. My mare definitely needs regular floating but she is never emergent (or hasn’t been so far and certainly wasn’t at that point) and has zero issues keeping on weight. YMMV if your mare needs those 2x/year floats more than mine did.
Sedation is generally safe for pregnant mares. The issue with floating teeth in the in foal mare is the potential for releasing bacteria into their bloodstream and causing illness to the mare. If it were my mare, unless she’s losing condition, or struggling with eating, I would wait until after she foals.
I would not do dental work on a pregnant work unless it’s an emergency, and then I would consider some prophylactic antibiotics. Mouths are fairly icky places, with bacteria that has no business in the blood stream. The body can normally take care of whatever might make its way into it, but a fetus is a new level of susceptibility
Does she really get her teeth floated twice a year? What’s so bad about her that’s needed?
She has one fractured tooth and a couple with caries internally. We discussed getting the fractured tooth pulled but it’s an upper molar and would be a major surgery. Since she is eating well and her weight is good (and she has no nasal discharge) we decided not to remove it. I probably should have mentioned that in the first post.
yeah, that’s useful info LOL
Fractures can easily cause systemic issues, so it’s not benign just sitting there
I’d just have a major discussion with your vet and a surgeon about the pros and cons of delaying surgery vs doing it now. Antibiotics would be part of that discussion
My mare had a fractured tooth when she was about 8 years old. I knew something was up and the dentist confirmed it on her visit at that time. He ground the tooth down some and I had to squirt antibiotics in her mouth for a while. When she was re-checked in 6 months the tooth had not abscessed. She got rechecked every 6 months and he would grind some tooth down until finally it had grown out. Yes she had step mouth for years but it never affected her because it was addressed every 6 months. It was a top molar. She is now 23 and never had a problem with the tooth. I wish I could say the same thing about her right foot.
It depends how bad the tooth is fractured and if you can keep it from abscessing plus frequent dental care. I am glad I did not have to go through with surgery because at that point she had a lot of root with that tooth. Dentist did tell me I must be living right because the tooth did not abscess.
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