Fractured Tooth and Tooth Extraction

[Windermere]

Hey everyone,

Looking for some input on your experience with extraction of a fractured tooth. During a routine float today (8 year old Warmblood, checked by the dentist every 6 months due to a dodgy mouth hx including an infection along the gum line and a dislocated jaw), the dentist said that one of his teeth was fractured. I’m still waiting for more information and copies of the x-rays, but am doing my best to read up on this situation as much as I can.

My horse hasn’t been displaying any unusual behavior or other signs of pain, and since he is relatively young, I’m planning on getting a second opinion before we go and yank the tooth out. How common is this? There’s another horse out at the barn (similar age) who had to have a tooth pulled within the last six months as well - before that, I had only encountered one other horse who needed a tooth pulled.

How long is the recovery time? Anyone experience complications or wish they had pursued another tx option?

[skipollo]

So my horse had a fractured canine (lower, right.) During his yearly dental in 2016, the dentist found an abscess right next to that tooth. We started him on antibiotics and everything seemed to clear up. During his 2017 dental, the abscess in that location was gone but the base of that tooth (and the gum around it) was not doing well. The tooth was fractured and infected and had to be removed. He never acted like he was in pain in regard to how he would eat/chew, acceptance of the bit, etc. If I hadn’t had the dentist out, I probably would have never known what was happening to his tooth. They suspect he fractured the tooth somehow, it got infected, fractured tooth started to rot.

The canine is the hardest tooth to remove because of how deep the root is and how curved it is. It took a lot of sedation and a lot of work to get the tooth out. Of course this leaves a big hole in his mouth that previously housed an infected. We started him on antibiotics (kept him on them for three weeks) along with daily tooth hole flushing. I used a diluted Betadine mixture (literally like five drops of Betadine in a red solo cup, add warm water) so it’s honey colored.

I used a big plastic syringe (60cc) and a long flexible plastic tip to really get in there to flush his tooth hole out. I’d follow the Betadine rinses with a plain warm water rinse. They recommended I pack it with sugar after flushing (kind of an old school remedy for preventing infection?) I did that for a few days, but he really started objecting to it, so I stopped the sugar packing. I had to flush his tooth hole for maybe a month and a half.

I just peeked at the tooth hole today actually. It’s completely filled in with pink healthy tissue and looks great. I never had xrays of his jaw done. The plan was to do xrays if the issue didn’t resolve.

He did have another extraction as a baby that was much less of an ordeal. He had an extra bottom front tooth that was pushing his normal teeth out of alignment and making a small sore on his gums. It was a really small awkward tooth, so they removed it. I didn’t have to do any special treatment for that extraction.

If you’re looking for a price estimate, the canine tooth removal cost me about $400 for the whole thing.

[ryansgirl]

My old TB needed a tooth pulled as it was cracked and loose. He was an old man at the time and surprisingly that was his only real issue. I took him to an equine vet hospital (I worked there at the time so saved a lot of money thankfully) to see one of the vets who specialized in dentistry. We did xrays to confirm everything and then it was pulled. Not an issue at all. I did have to rinse his mouth and that pocket with diluted chlorhexidine for awhile after - can’t remember how long but long enough so the open area was basically healed up.

He was fine for everything but he was always pretty stoic. I still have the tooth preserved in a jar.

[pony_baloney]

By “fractured”, do you mean broken?

My horse, when 30 or so, had a lower molar that was broken. A vet that specializes in dentistry thought it best to just pull out the half that was loose. It was tricky, since it was a lower tooth and an unusual size (her tools are designed for a full sized tooth). Took about 40 minutes and a lot of work but it came out. No complications, flushed for about a week or so (diluted Listerine). It was the first tooth he had pulled, and at 33 now, he’s had two others (uppers) removed.

No xrays were taken. I think all had mild infections but only the last required antibiotics. The holes all healed fine. Now however, he eats soaked feed and hay pellets. He can chew some hay but sometimes will quid.

[tinah]

My oldie had a broken tooth that had to come out. The procedure itself was uneventful, but I’m fairly certain he’s never quite forgiven me for the flushing the hole afterwards for weeks

[CHT]

Depends on the tooth and how it is fractured. My retired gelding has a fractured molar. Vet says to let it rot a bit, and she will then pop out the piece. A while back a sales horse had a fractured canine: needed to be taken out at vet for about $600.00. Another horse had a dental defect resulting in a severely fractured molar: taking molar’s out is a complicated surgery that was over $2500.00.