Geriatric horse dental care--periodontal disease

[pony_baloney]

My vet recently checked my 30 yr. old’s teeth and mentioned that a crooked tooth has caused a pocket in the gum where food is collecting. She suggested rinsing his mouth with water after meals, and adding Listerine to his water.

Anyone do these things to their horses? The problem tooth is 3rd from the rear. She had a bottle with a long bent thin spout on it that she rinsed with before the exam. It had a blue liquid in it (chlorahexidine?) I asked about rinsing with diluted Listerine and she said it would be difficult because the tooth is so far back.

Adding Listerine to his water bothers me a bit. Can it be safe to drink? I’d have to offer him a bucket with and one without it to be sure he’s drinking. She also suggested adding it to the trough in the pasture, saying it would help all the horses and will keep it the trough clean.

Squirting water with a syringe may work, but again it would be difficult to get so far back. Is there anything that anyone does to help slow down dental disease?

[Lady_Eboshi]

[QUOTE=pony baloney;8333681]
My vet recently checked my 30 yr. old’s teeth and mentioned that a crooked tooth has caused a pocket in the gum where food is collecting. She suggested rinsing his mouth with water after meals, and adding Listerine to his water.

Anyone do these things to their horses? The problem tooth is 3rd from the rear. She had a bottle with a long bent thin spout on it that she rinsed with before the exam. It had a blue liquid in it (chlorahexidine?) I asked about rinsing with diluted Listerine and she said it would be difficult because the tooth is so far back.

Adding Listerine to his water bothers me a bit. Can it be safe to drink? I’d have to offer him a bucket with and one without it to be sure he’s drinking. She also suggested adding it to the trough in the pasture, saying it would help all the horses and will keep it the trough clean.

Squirting water with a syringe may work, but again it would be difficult to get so far back. Is there anything that anyone does to help slow down dental disease?[/QUOTE]

We’ve got several oldies here who’ve had similar findings; IME it really is not practical to wash out their mouth with a syringe after every “meal,” especially because our horses are out and eating all day long. What I watch out for is a bolus of hay or grass getting caught in the socket where a tooth is missing, and you’ll know because you’ll either see a bulge or you’ll smell it (bad breath with that “anerobic” stink will get your attention).

At that point, you can pull his tongue out, reach in and grab the clump, and maybe wash with the syringe but they’re pretty good at removing such with their own tongues about 90% of the time.
If it’s practical for you to flush his “pocket” after grain, I suppose you could.

IME, periodontal disease progresses, if at all, EXTREMELY SLOWLY and I really don’t feel anything is effective against it. What you DO need to be aware of in the geriatric age group is suddenly going off their feed or quidding hay when they haven’t been, because either can mean a loose, rocking, or cracked tooth causing pain. Get that taken care of professionally pronto.

I wouldn’t put Listerine in his water, either. Periodontal disease is a non-problem vs. dehydration and impaction colic if he sensibly doesn’t like the taste.

To be honest, I consider the fact a horse has periodontal disease more as a “finding” than something actionable that requires active “treatment.” Outside of a vet school setting that really isn’t practical.

[TWH_Girl]

[QUOTE=Lady Eboshi;8333860]
We’ve got several oldies here who’ve had similar findings; IME it really is not practical to wash out their mouth with a syringe after every “meal,” especially because our horses are out and eating all day long. What I watch out for is a bolus of hay or grass getting caught in the socket where a tooth is missing, and you’ll know because you’ll either see a bulge or you’ll smell it (bad breath with that “anerobic” stink will get your attention).

At that point, you can pull his tongue out, reach in and grab the clump, and maybe wash with the syringe but they’re pretty good at removing such with their own tongues about 90% of the time.
If it’s practical for you to flush his “pocket” after grain, I suppose you could.

IME, periodontal disease progresses, if at all, EXTREMELY SLOWLY and I really don’t feel anything is effective against it. What you DO need to be aware of in the geriatric age group is suddenly going off their feed or quidding hay when they haven’t been, because either can mean a loose, rocking, or cracked tooth causing pain. Get that taken care of professionally pronto.

I wouldn’t put Listerine in his water, either. Periodontal disease is a non-problem vs. dehydration and impaction colic if he sensibly doesn’t like the taste.

To be honest, I consider the fact a horse has periodontal disease more as a “finding” than something actionable that requires active “treatment.” Outside of a vet school setting that really isn’t practical.[/QUOTE]

My old guy had periodontal disease. It definitely required treatment. Started off with Listerine washes, then a year later antibiotic gum injections and another year after that, total extraction of upper and lower incisions. I’d recommend xrays and then determine if any teeth need extracting. Dental problems can be quite painful.

[csaper58]

Would your horse let you put the garden hose in his mouth after he eats? If so, then rinsing his mouth will be easy. Don’t use a lot of water pressure as that can drive infection deeper into the gum

Here are a couple of siphon devices that could help
www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page1861.html attaches to the faucet, then the hose attaches to it.
it can be used to siphon Listerine/chlorhexidine/salt water out of a bucket, into the hose, and rinse the mouth that way. Some feed store carry it or order it.

https://www.lefthanderchassis.com/v2a/14_viewproduct_product.asp?idproduct=233W1144
A siphon like this (found at hardware/auto parts stores) is operated by hand, and you just stick one end in a bucket of what ever rinse you are using. The horses do tend to chew and crush the plastic so buy some extra pieces.

It would be best to have a clean new one for your horse.

I found that the periodontal disease, if not treated, allowed sensitive areas of the tooth, below the gum, to become exposed. This caused my old guy pain and made him reluctant to drink the cold water in the winter. As a result, he had repeated bouts of colic. I would be careful about adding Listerine to his water bucket, I think if you do that, it would be wise to provide a bucket of fresh water too.

[pony_baloney]

Thanks everyone. He did have one loose tooth, but the dentist filed the opposite one down and the loose one tightened up a bit. The vet will be doing his teeth in the spring unless I notice some problems before then. She sedates and will power and hand float; the dentist doesn’t sedate and only hand floats. Both use speculums.

He’s been picky about his food lately, but she didn’t see anything in his mouth that could be causing it (I’m thinking stress from new herdmate causing his ulcers to bother him a bit). He chews feed, hay and crunchy treats just fine.

I have been using a syringe to get some supplements in him, but I was thinking that maybe a turkey baster for rinsing could reach pretty far back, and it’s long and thin enough to go between his cheek and teeth.

He does have Cushings and will be more prone to teeth issues and infections, which is why I’d like to try rinsing. If I dilute Listerine, squirt it and let him spit it out, maybe that would be OK (even though you’re supposed to rinse with Listerine for 30 seconds). Not crazy about letting any animal ingest it.

Those siphons look handy too. The second one may be easier to find if the baster doesn’t work.

[asterix]

A friend has a 30 year old with this problem in several places. Left unaddressed it indeed causes lots of problems. The teaching hospital near us has a dental specialist who made plugs for these areas, which seemed to help. It might be worth seeing if New Bolton has someone you could see.