Our next guest is Dr. Diego de Gasperi, thank you for being here and welcome to The Junction.

Thank you. Thank you for inviting me. Yeah, this has been a great experience. Uh, the first time ever I give a talk in a forensic conference. So as far as my background goes, I'm originally from Brazil, went to vet school in Brazil, and since I was a child, you know, I had horses, I was able to ride horses, and I was already decided to be an equine veterinarian. So I went to vet school in Brazil, then ended up coming to U. S. for specialized training in surgery. And I stayed in the U. S. now at UF Vet School as one of the, one of the members of the large animal surgery service. As far as my background goes, you know, it includes mostly equine, but also on the farm animal side as well, specifically in surgery. And in that field, we do, we do end up, you know, evaluating and treating animals for dental disease, which was the topic of my talk. Um, and, you know, because of my training, you know, I. Uh, going to the vet school and train on the surgery side, I've, I've, um, I have the training or capabilities of diagnosing and treating animals that have been, uh, injured potentially by a human cause, which may then help on the forensic side.

Excellent. So what is the, what are the main differences between companion animal teeth and horse teeth?

Yeah. So the, the main difference I would say is that the horse's teeth is what we call a hypsodont, it's a very long teeth, a very long prowl that will continue to erupt, uh, throughout the horse's life. While in small animals, they have a shorter teeth, similar to humans that do not continue to erupt throughout the animal's life. And then in the horse, um, the reason why they have, uh, That long tooth is that, uh, over, uh, during the course of their life, the continuous grazing, will wear down the tooth as the tooth continues to erupt. So there's a compensation in there.

So is there, like with dogs and cats, we think about when they eat canned food versus dry food, there's going to be a difference. Are the different types of food that horses eat, does that impact how they wear their teeth?

Yes, um, there's some controversy about that, but as a, as a general rule, or what we generally believe is that in horses, there are more confined or a more intensive management where they don't spend a lot of time grazing. Um, those are horses that, uh, oftentimes we'll be receiving grain, uh, they don't wear down their teeth as much as horses that are grazing 13, 14 hours per day out in nature and pasture or even wild horses. So the consequences of that is that the horses that are more intensive management, they, uh, because of their infrequent grazing activity, they may have a abnormal wearing of their teeth, and overgrowth that will form over time.

I don't know a ton about horses. And most of my experience with horses was during vet school, but I remember about the need to float horses teeth. So can you explain what, what that is and why it's needed?

Yeah. So because of their continuing eruption, uh, horses teeth will, and the abnormal wearing wear that will occur over time. Uh, we do recommend floating the teeth, um, about once a year, at least once a year, some horses twice or three times a year. And the way we do it, we use either a hand rasp or a power float or a hand float or a power float in order to, um, to remove those sharp points. The horse is usually sedated. We use a mouth speculum to keep their mouth open. And, uh, we do that and, you know, on the top teeth, especially on the outside and the bottom teeth, especially on the inner side. In addition to what their overgrowth of the horses may form in different areas of the mouth.

So I'm assuming that similar to how lay people and technicians and owners should not be doing dental procedures on dogs and cats, it's the same thing for horses.

Correct. It's same thing for horses. The horses will have some extra challenges that the mouth and the horse's head is very long. The mouth does not open as much as a cat or a dog mouth will open. And, uh, the important things to remember is that when you do this, uh, floating, uh, teeth floating, Horses are sedated, uh, which is a particular procedure done, or that should be done only by veterinarians. And, uh, you need to have a, uh, good knowledge of the anatomy and the conditions that require floating. Uh, and the areas of the tooth you should be floating and areas of the teeth you should not be touching because you can cause major problems if you do.

Are there any issues that can happen to horses, like congenital problems that can lead to dental disease?

Yeah, horses can, can have, uh, you know, there are a few things that may occur. Horses, uh, can have a condition called the parrot mouth. Or the overbite, where the top jaw is longer than the lower jaw. Uh, and they can have the opposite as well. Uh, and these horses, while they can learn how to prehend food, some of these horses will have overgrowth that will occur at the back of the mouth. As a consequence of that disparity on length of the top jaw and the bottom jaw. Another condition that may occur is that horses can be born with extra teeth. We call it supernumerary teeth. And those can over time, uh, overgrowth from lacking another tooth on the opposite side that will prevent it from, uh, from overgrowth. So those need to be addressed either by floating or extraction.

Now, what are going to be the most common diseases that you see with dental disease in horses?

Yeah, we see, you know, there's a large variety of diseases we see, but most often we see horses with, uh, Infection of the tooth roots that can get there and an infection can get there through the blood or through a periodontal disease or, or, uh, injury to the tooth crown itself, such as a fracture. So a lot of the infection infected tooth, we see they, they had a previous condition. There can be an isolated condition or can cause their infection. One of them is periodontal disease, which is relatively common in older horses. Uh, they typically form spaces between their teeth and will trap feed and will cause inflammation of the gingiva and gum. And, um, they can end up leading to infection of the tooth and the sinus, et cetera. as well. Other common condition is a tooth fracture that, as I mentioned before, can cause an infection of the tooth, although not all of them will cause that type of infection. So periodontal disease, teeth fracture, apical infection, those are the most common diseases we see in our practice.

And what are the clinical signs when a horse has these problems?

Yeah, so there are clinical signs that are specific for dental disease, but others that are not. So specific signs of dental disease, those that are more indicative of oral or a problem in the horse's mouth, would include, dropping feed, having difficulty while eating, eating very slowly, Having, pauses while they're chewing. They might be chewing for a little while and then they stop and then start over. Quidding is one particular, critical sign, which is basically dropping boluses of, of partially chewed hay. Um, that's also typical of horses with dental disease. And other, Clinical signs that are not specific of dental disease, but are commonly found in horses with dental disease include weight loss, you know, horses with the body condition is decreasing over time. Horses that are passing with their feces feed material that have not been chewed properly, such as grain that is still intact or long steamed, uh, portions of hay or grass that have not been chewed properly. Some of these can also, you know, this particular problem can cause, horses can, uh, are more prone to choke or have colics because of, uh, you know, they're ingesting this partially chewed material. And some others as, uh, nasal discharge from the sinuses being infected, swelling around the face and nasal, uh, and, and draining tracts and associated with this type of swelling.

In dogs and cats, when they have severe dental disease, often like the teeth will rot and fall out and it can cause a lot of systemic problems, but just the pain and that kind of stuff. But because the roots, I imagine, are shorter, it's more likely for them to fall off, uh, compared to, to horses. Like what would happen if, if dental disease is not treated in horses?

Yeah, unfortunately, because horses have this, uh, this continuous eruption of their teeth, and this, like you mentioned it, their teeth are unlikely to come off on their own unless you're dealing with a very old horse with a very short tooth. Uh, this promise tends to be, uh, perpetuated through all the horses life. So the clinical signs tend to get worse, or at least remain present for a long time and because of many of these problems will affect the wear of their teeth. They, uh, you know, the sharp points, hooks and ramps that will occur tend to get worse. Um, they tend to have, you know, very regular teeth, um, which we call Wave mouth or step mouth and, again, those can, can, uh, vicious cycle. They will continue to become a problem. They unlikely will resolve on their own.

So myself not knowing much about horses, if I was to go get a horse tomorrow, what are the things that I need to plan for going forward to make sure that I'm properly taking care of that horse, of the dental health of the horse?

Yeah, that's a great question. We typically recommend that once a year visit with your veterinarian for a dental inspection and dental float to remove any sharp points that are forming. If your veterinarian find that your horse has a problem associated with their teeth, they may recommend more, um, after addressing the problem, they may recommend more visits more often and more regular. Um, yeah. dental floats such as two to three times a year and depending on the condition that they find. So at least one time, once a year for regular floats.

Excellent. Well thank you so much for sharing all your knowledge and thank you for being here. It was great talking to you and learning more about horses.

Thank you for the opportunity. It was a pleasure.