NTED - Common Molar Abnormalities
1. Caudal (back) and Rostral (front) Hooks - Prevents horse from grinding it's food freely side to side and mandible from coming forward resulting in improper and excessive molar wear. Can cause excessive wear to opposing upper and lower molars, cause extreme discomfort as head carriage or frame is changed when riding, bit problems and trauma to soft tissues.
2. Ramps - Prevents horse from grinding it's food freely side to side resulting in improper and excessive molar wear. Can cause sever discomfort with the bit, a underbite by forcing the mandible forward and overbite by not forcing the mandible backwards . Ramps can occur if upper and lower premolar deciduous teeth (a.k.a. caps) are retained past normal shedding time, preventing normal growth of the permanent premolar. Ramps can also occur if a tooth is reduced without reducing the opposing tooth.
3. Sharp Enamel Points - Traumatizes soft tissue causing pain and discomfort when horse is eating, from bits and head gear that pulls cheek tissue and the tongue into these areas. Sharp points can cause slab fractures of molar teeth and prevent the horse's molar teeth from occluding properly during lateral movement of the lower jaw of which, is crucial when a horse is eating.
4. Sheared Molar Tables - Severe abnormality that prevents a horse from using one side of it's molar arcades. Shear mouth can occur do to a fracture of the jaw or TMJ causing ankylosis (bony formation that fuses bones together) that severely restricts lateral (side to side) movement of the lower jaw.
5. Diastema - Space between two adjoining teeth that allows food to get trapped resulting in severe periodontal disease. Diastemas can occur do to pressure being putting on teeth forcing them to move apart from one another.
6. Periodontal Disease - Gum disease that leads to destruction of periodontal ligaments and structures, bone erosion, pre-mature tooth loss and shifting, abscess and infection. Bacteria from periodontal disease can travel through the bloodstream becoming systemic and spreading to numerous organs such as the liver, kidneys, heart and lungs, causing infection. Periodontal disease is caused by malocclusions and or misalignments of the teeth that restricts the normal lateral moverment of the lower jaw, resulting in improper mastication and wear patterns, the inability for the horse to move food through the mouth thus allowing bacteria and tarter to localize around the gumline.
7. ATR (accentuated transverse ridging) - a.k.a. washboard tables, is very common in stalled horses that are fed in feed buckets off the ground, less common in horses that are allowed to graze and are fed in feed buckets on the ground. ATR prevents normal forwards, backwards and side to side movement of the lower jaw.
8. Step Molars - Prevents the lower jaw from moving forwards, backwards and side to side which results in uneven and improper wear to the molars and incisors. Step mouth occurs due to a missing tooth allowing an opposing tooth to erupt into the space, a baby tooth that is retained past normal shedding time delaying normal erupting of a permanent tooth and allowing the opposing tooth to become to long.
9. Displaced Molars - Since displaced molars are molars that are not in proper alignment in the arcade (row of teeth), they can erupt excessively do to lack of proper wear from the opposing tooth and cause abnormal grinding patters of the horse and become fractured. Periodontal pocketing is highly likely due to the inability of gum tissue to be as tight around a displaced tooth as it would be around teeth that are in perfect alignment in the arcade. Displaced teeth generally are caused by injury, abnormal shedding and eruption process of deciduous and permanent teeth during developmental years and or from a tooth that is putting to much pressure on the opposing tooth, causing it to shift and erupt out of alignment. Displaced teeth usually cause overcrowding and occur more commonly in smaller headed horses such as, miniatures.
10. Wave Complexes - Causes gradual, excessive wear to molar teeth, resulting in prematurely worn out teeth, periodontal pocketing, decay, fractured teeth, excessive pressure and premature tooth loss. Wave complexes prohibit proper occlusion of the molar arcades, limits side to side movement of the lower jaw and inhibits proper grinding of feed.