A WorldWide Association of Equine Dentistry Registered Equine Dentist

David at Banham Zoo

David also has to take care of the big Shire horses there too.

A Case of hooks on the Upper 6 molars.

This is not one of David's regular customers. David was called in to treat this horse because it was demonstrating problems with eating and working.

Here you can see the hooks that have developed on the upper number 6 molars: the upper pair of molars that combine with the lower molars for the bit to rest against.

These hooks occur when the teeth have nothing to rub or occlude against when the horse is chewing. This is usually a congenital problem, where for example, the top jaw protrudes beyond the bottom jaw (referred to as Parrot Mouth). This horse could also have hooks on the lower back molars!

Here David is holding the tongue to one side for a better view. Notice that the cheek is touching the hook on the left (as you look at the picture). This is a situation that could possibly occur when the horse is eating and the sharp hook would easily cut into the cheek. This is very painful, as you can imagine.

Here is the completed work. Both hooks have been reduced to the right level and angle and the horse should not have any problems.

Regular dental checks would have identified this problem much sooner and the dentist could manage these teeth as part of the normal work. In this case, the horse had to be sedated and power tools were required to reduce the hooks, something to be avoided if at all possible.

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