SARAH: "How can you tell the age of a horse by the teeth?
Also, I bet you know that dog's teeth should be brushed daily
or they can produce teeth, gum, jaw bone diseases.
And she's wondering if a horse's teeth should be brushed daily
or weekly, and what type of teeth, gum, jaw bone diseases
can a horse get, and what are the most common.
And what are some ways to prevent any teeth, gum,
jaw bone diseases."
DR LYDIA GRAY: Wow.
So what was her name?
SARAH: So Emily.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Emily must have been listening,
because didn't you ask someone to ask about how
you age a horse by their teeth?
SARAH: Yes, I did.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Yeah, so she was, she was listening.
SARAH: She was so smart.
DR LYDIA GRAY: So I found this book.
This is the guide for determining
the age of the horse.
You want to guess what year this is?
SARAH: The AAEP puts out the most fascinating titles.
DR LYDIA GRAY: I know.
SARAH: Oh, 2002.
DR LYDIA GRAY: 2002.
So it's 15 years old.
I think they have this electronically now.
SARAH: 2002 was 15 years ago you guys.
DR LYDIA GRAY: This was a fun book
because it's got eruption schedule, which
is super helpful.
It is the most accurate way to age
a horse, because as they're losing baby teeth
and gaining permanent teeth, that's pretty accurate.
Like, the incisors for the foal are six days, six weeks,
six months.
So nice little-- and then when they lose those incisors
is 2 and 1/2 years, 3 and 1/2 years, 4 and 1/2 years.
So it's a little--
SARAH: Nice cadence.
DR LYDIA GRAY: -- jingle.
And then--
SARAH: Singing that one to yourself?
DR LYDIA GRAY: -- the tooth comes in, let's say the central
incisors, at two and a half years.
It takes six months to be what's called "in wear"--
and that means grow to touch the bottom one.
So from birth to about five years,
you can age pretty accurately.
After that it gets to be more of an art.
And after 10, 15 years it's even not really an art.
It's kind of more like voodoo.
But this book has great pictures.
It talks about the eruption.
I'll just read their indicators.
And you can see how complicated it is
and how it can be not very accurate, because it does
depend a little bit on the breed of the horse or pony, what
they're eating can change a lot, the dental care they've
received in their life.
But the length versus the width of the upper corner
incisor, because when they're young
it's wider than it is long, and as they age it
gets longer and skinnier.
Because remember that horse's teeth
grow throughout their life.
SARAH: And that's why you have to float them.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Right.
They are wider at the beginning.
And as they get more of the root, it gets narrower.
Which leads to one of the problems
is gum disease as they age, because there
begins to be spaces between the cheek teeth--
which we haven't talked about yet.
But those spaces can lead to gum disease, gingivitis,
periodontal disease-- periodontal meaning
gum and bone.
So as far as problems, it's what you
said-- because their teeth grow all the time,
you have to float them and take off the sharp edges.
And the sharp edges are on the outside of the uppers
and the inside of the lowers, because the lower jaw
is narrower.
So those teeth, they meet but there's
a little bit sticking into the tongue side on the bottom,
so we have to float those.
That's the number one problem horses get.
They can get cavities but they don't really,
so we don't brush them.
And it has to do with the infolding and the invaginations
and the complicated way their teeth are
created versus other species.
Their diet-- they're not eating a lot of sugary, sticky treats.
SARAH: Hopefully.
DR LYDIA GRAY: Hopefully.
The fact that they're trickle feeders--
they eat all the time, so they get the very alkaline saliva
that bathes their mouth.
So there's some reasons that horses don't get cavities
and don't need brushed, that they need floated.
That's the care that your veterinarian
is going to be doing every six months or a year,
based on exams.