Treating diastema

[ABDR4]

I just had a new dentist (vet trained in dentistry) out to float teeth and she found one of my horses has a diastema on her upper right side, most likely caused by her molars being out of whack. She packed fhe site with an antibiotic. Horse is 9 and has no known health issues.

I really, really want to keep on top of this since I really dont want this to progress to where she needs an extraction later. The research I’ve done said that daily rinsing can help and I really want to do that. The problem is that it seems that I can add dilute chlorhexidine to the things that trigger anaphylaxis like mast cell reactions in me. My horses are at home and I’m the only one who can do the job. Major bummer since I thought this was a viable option and I already have chlorhexidine I could’ve used. I’m not sure if its the chlorhexidine or preservatives in the chlorhexidine the vet used that’s getting me.

Is there such a thing as a preservative free chlorhexidine?

Are there any other options? Anything herbal maybe?

Hopefully this all makes sense. Typing this while having a reaction…reactions make brain go woo. But this is really, really important and I want to stay on top of it. Especially sjnce it’ll take me a while to recover from this reaction I’m having now.

[StormyDay]

@ABDR4

I just had a new dentist (vet trained in dentistry) out to float teeth and she found one of my horses has a diastema on her upper right side, most likely caused by her molars being out of whack. She packed fhe site with an antibiotic. Horse is 9 and has no known health issues.

I really, really want to keep on top of this since I really dont want this to progress to where she needs an extraction later. The research I’ve done said that daily rinsing can help and I really want to do that. The problem is that it seems that I can add dilute chlorhexidine to the things that trigger anaphylaxis like mast cell reactions in me. My horses are at home and I’m the only one who can do the job. Major bummer since I thought this was a viable option and I already have chlorhexidine I could’ve used. I’m not sure if its the chlorhexidine or preservatives in the chlorhexidine the vet used that’s getting me.

Is there such a thing as a preservative free chlorhexidine?

Are there any other options? Anything herbal maybe?

Hopefully this all makes sense. Typing this while having a reaction…reactions make brain go woo. But this is really, really important and I want to stay on top of it. Especially sjnce it’ll take me a while to recover from this reaction I’m having now.

I would ask the vet for a different antiseptic wash. At least in humans, there are more options than just chlorhexidine. Chlorhexidine is known to cause allergic reactions.

[TBKite]

Mechanically flushing the diastema out is doing the bulk of the benefit, not the antiseptic. If it’s causing you to have an allergic reaction, just use water.

That said, it is highly unlikely you can flush this diastema effectively working blind with just a syringe in an unsedated horse, no matter how cooperative. They can be hard to fully clean out for a dentist using a speculum, angled forceps, and fine-tipped, angled water sprayers.

Your best bet is to keep up with recheck appointments to address the imbalance causing the diastema. As long as the gap is wider at the chewing surface than the gums feed will be able to get out as the teeth move back together.

If the diastema does continue to fill with rotting feed, the gap can also be filled temporarily with dental impression material.

[walkinthewalk]

What about pain old table salt and tepid water in a turkey baster?

salt water has been used for years to flush human mouths and its what the vet told me to use when one of my horses needed a tooth extracted.

[scrbear11]

I have been treating a diastema and subsequent infection in my older gelding for four months. The dentist will be out tomorrow to exact the two molars. We thought we were on top of the infection, but it has come back with a vengeance and he’s now having a lot of difficulty eating.

We treated with antibiotics, attempted an oral rinse, and the vet was out every other week debriding the diastema and packing with a modeling clay. Our hope was that the infection would completely resolve and the gum would repair itself enough to keep from becoming re-infected.

We weren’t so lucky.