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Poor Baby, and he is just a baby - yearling colt! |
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May 19, 2008 it was a very hot day here in San Diego and also my mom's birthday. Around 6pm I got a call from a friend of mine and he was very upset. His horse was injured and he needed me to come right away to see what to do. When we got there, here is what we saw:
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This poor yearling was apparantly chewing on a chain link fence, pulled back and the fence was stuck between the two upper center teeth. When he pulled back, his teeth gave way before the fence. He has pulled his teeth right out of his gum and also torn part of his incisal bone (under the tear up the center). The picture below gives a good side view actually showing the root of the teeth hanging out to the side. Only the thin layer of gingiva is still holding the teeth in his mouth. There was also food debris in his mouth so we felt the injury happened sometime in the afternoon.
There was no way to save these teeth, they were his deciduous (baby) teeth and there was absolutely no attachment in the gum. Step One was trimming the gingiva as close to the teeth as possible to leave the gum to heal. Here is a picture once the teeth were removed.
Now you can see the debris that needs to be cleaned out (debrided). There is also a flap of the roof of his mouth, the part that would be right behind the teeth, called the lumpas, that is laying on top of the 2nd tooth from the right. Below is the area after debriding and flushing. You can barely see where the incisal bone is torn - it is under the tear right up the center of his jaw. The sad thing is that during the debriding process the tooth buds of permanant teeth came out with the necrotic (dead) materials. Unless there is a miracle, he will never grow his permanent teeth in this area. Sorry this picture isn't in good focus.
Next is suturing the area so it can start the healing process. Dr. Lisa Grim meticulously stiched him up keeping in mind that this young colt will no doubt be rubbing this area during the healing process.
Here the stiching is completed. The open area in the front will allow for flusing and the area to heal from the inside out. This young colt was very well behaved through the whole process. He will now get antibiotics for any possible infection, bute for pain relief, and will need to have the area flushed regularly so food debris won't pack inside. His diet will be adjusted to pelleted food and bermuda because alfalfa is just to stemmy for the area.
I was able to go over frequently and check on his recovery. At first it didn't look too good, but the stiches held and the colt was such a trooper - he tolerated all the poking, flushing and medicines he needed to take. Today, two months after the accident, I went to the ranch for a birthday/rodeo celebration and was able to check on this sweet boy. He hasn't lost any weight, his mood was excellent and when I lifted his lip, I was so pleased to see it has completely healed. I rubbed the area to feel all around and he really like it. What a sweetheart.
He will need regular dentistry probably every six to nine months so that the lower arcade of teeth to grow too tall because there is no opposition. After all of his permanant teeth have erupted (by age 5) we can consider how to handle the lack of teeth. Since this has happened at such a young age, he will grow up learning how to function without the teeth and it really shouldn't have an impact on perfromance. I will enjoy following up with him over the years.
I should point out that since Equine Dentistry is our speciality, we had the equipment, knowlege and expertise to handle this injury in the field. Most vets would simply refer this horse to a local hospital (as did the first vet that was contacted) the client saved $1000-$1500 by not having to have gone to the Equine Hospital. | |
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