NTED - Recommended Dentistry Schedule for Newborns to Geriatrics
Birth to 1 Year - Horses in this age group should have an oral examination performed during the neonatal period and about every 3 months thereafter. They should be examined for congenital defects, tumors and cysts, proper growth of the maxilla (upper jaw) and mandible (lower jaw), alignment of the upper and lower arcades. This is extremely important for horses suffering from parrot mouth and congenital defects as corrective dentistry will need to be started as soon as possible.
1 -2 years - Basic floating to remove sharp points and any hooks or ramps should be performed. In addition, wolf teeth will need to be extracted before any bit training is started.
2-5 years - Since the dentition (teeth) of a horse is in its most dynamic state due to the shedding of baby teeth and the eruption of permanent teeth between these ages, it is imperative to have horses check every 6 months to make sure the baby teeth are shedding properly to eliminate the start of any dental abnormalties such as, impacted teeth, retained baby teeth causing infection and pain, abscesses and soft tissue trauma. The removal of sharp, enamel points, hooks, ramps and extraction of retained baby teeth should be addressed. 5-19 years - Horses in this age group are considered to be mature and should have dental exams every 6 months to 1 year. The most common abnormalities seen in the mature horse that need to be addressed are hooks, ramps, wave complexes, periodontal disease, factured teeth, soft tissue trauma, apical infections, step mouth, ATR (accentuated transverse ridging) shear mouth, excessive wear, incisor and molar malocclusions and abnormalites, TMD of the TMJ mechanism. Any of these abnormalities will prevent the horse from having normal anterior/posterior and lateral movement of the lower jaw of which, is essential for a horse to be able to masticate (grind) it's food properly of which, is vital to the health of the horse. These abnormalities will cause problems with training and performance, health, attitude, willingness of the horse and premature tooth loss.
20+ years - Horses is this age group are considered geriatric and should have dental exams every 6 months to 1 year. Due to the special dental problems related to the constant attrition or wearing away of the reserve crown during the life of the horse and severe pathology in the form of abnormal tooth structure and periodontal disease among many others found, horses in this age group should not be overlooked. The most common dental abnormalities seen in the geriatric horse that need to be addressed are molar and incisor malocclusions, soft tissue trauma, periodontal disease, excessive wear, loose, fractured, missing, cupped and expired cheek teeth, hooks, ramps, wave complexes, shear mouth, steph mouth, arthritis and dysfunction of the TMJ mechanism.
The recommend dentistry schedule and the health of the horse go hand in hand. The reason why is because some of the most common health problems seen in horses that fall into the 2 - 20+ age group due to lack of proper and or adequate dental care is weight loss, poor hair coat, colic, choke, loose stools, nutritional and vitamin deficiencies, anemia and systemic infection due to periodontal disease that is traveling through the blood stream, internal organ damage, dehydration due to lack of water intake because of pain in the mouth, founder and metabolic problems due to over feeding just to keep the horse's weight up.