# Diastema - what works for your horse?



## Silverfire (9 October 2013)

Diastema's - what treatment worked for your horse? Did your horse quid a lot before and after treatment? My 3yr filly is having probems with hers again. She has two each side of her mouth. They were made wider last Oct and improved for a while. Then made wider again in July and five weeks later had healed but she was on karidox at the time same as last Oct. Ten days ago she was unhappy about something on the leftside of her mouth, vet removed two loose caps and said her gums by the diastemas were sore again. Shes just finishing ten days norodine but still quidding really badly and not managing to eat much hay, she just quids the quidded quids. So what worked for your horse? Has anyones horse got dental cement in? Did your horse quid a lot? Thanks for any replies.


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## TBB (9 October 2013)

My dentist, who is a vet, advised me to make sure that mine has access to grass rather than hay to the point that he advised me to close a paddock and build up grass in it to enable her to spend the winter out with plenty of grass as he said that hay will always be a problem. He advised plenty of short feed like chaff or alfa A to supplement when grass disappeared and beetpulp and nuts /cubes soaked if necessary. he advised against mixes as they go through them without them getting any goodness from them with their problem. My lady was quidding a lot with hay but loosing no bucket feed and started to lose weight when the grass disappeared (under water) last winter. She looks great at the moment, on grass with no supplementary feeding, a bit on the obese side if anything. She was on powders for 10 days after she had hers widened and had no problems afterwards. She is 8.


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## Silverfire (9 October 2013)

Thanks for your reply TBB. My filly is very fat too, on hay and little bit of beet and linseed. She was eating hay fine up until two weeks ago so i was very surprised like last time to hear her gums were sore again. My filly has another problem in her hindgut and because of that she doesn't have grass so turning her out on grass is not an option i want to take at this time. I don't have all year round grass anyway.


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## RLS (9 October 2013)

sorry, can't offer any ideas at present. 
But reading with interest as my boy is off to the vets next week to have 2 teeth removed due to diastemata. Previously he has had teeth checked regularly and vet noted slight diastema but was not then causing much problem. This summer he was not looking so good and after a visit to vets last week when they had a real good poke around vet has decided it would be better to remove 2 teeth, which just insist on growing at the wrong angle. He's currently on antibiotics for infected gum and danilone. I can see he's much more comfortable now - when its a gradual thing, sometimes it can be difficult to really see it. I'm feeling a bit guilty now (there's nothing worse than sore teeth) and also worried about next week's dentistry. My boy is 8, too.


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## Silverfire (10 October 2013)

RLS said:



			sorry, can't offer any ideas at present. 
But reading with interest as my boy is off to the vets next week to have 2 teeth removed due to diastemata. Previously he has had teeth checked regularly and vet noted slight diastema but was not then causing much problem. This summer he was not looking so good and after a visit to vets last week when they had a real good poke around vet has decided it would be better to remove 2 teeth, which just insist on growing at the wrong angle. He's currently on antibiotics for infected gum and danilone. I can see he's much more comfortable now - when its a gradual thing, sometimes it can be difficult to really see it. I'm feeling a bit guilty now (there's nothing worse than sore teeth) and also worried about next week's dentistry. My boy is 8, too.
		
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Goodluck with that RLS. Let us know how it goes.
My filly is actually eating better today. I think the loose caps must have made her teeth very sore as she hasnt been eating on the leftside of her mouth for a while but is today. Hopefully her gums are healing too.


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## RLS (16 October 2013)

Silverfire said:



			Goodluck with that RLS. Let us know how it goes.
My filly is actually eating better today. I think the loose caps must have made her teeth very sore as she hasnt been eating on the leftside of her mouth for a while but is today. Hopefully her gums are healing too.
		
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My vet phoned yesterday afternoon to say that teeth removal had gone all to plan, no major problems. So that's a big relief! 
I'm going to visit my li'l pony in horspital this evening after work. A friend did warn me - don't take him grapes - she had a wisdom tooth removed and nearly got a grape stuck in the gap! So, no grapes then, what about bananas? Those are his favourite.

Silverfire, how is your filly doing?


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## beatrice (16 October 2013)

My mums horse has his filled. 

I believe they were made wider to begin with which helped but he was still having issues so the decided to fill the gaps. 

He now only has one that bothers him but it he doesn't tend to quid - he chews awkwardly and as weird as it sounds mum says he gets a particular odour. I think they may be looking to widen this one next as filling is only helping short term - he is stil getting impactions and or Hay stuck in the gum. 

He has his teeth looked at almost monthly and if my mum has any doubt that hes not happy they are checked.


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## paulineh (16 October 2013)

I have an Arab mare that has Diastema. She is seen every six months by my EDT. 

I syringe her mouth out as many times a day at least, with a weak solution of Listerine . I now add some Heparsulph to her feeds as this seems to help.

I have never needed to have the gaps widened by keeping the mouth clean. I also make her feeds quite wet.


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## Goldenstar (16 October 2013)

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[/CODE]Listerine ,  no sugar coated feeds at all lots of turn out and getting older have got my boys sorted out
He also had extensive widening done by my vet and at the Dick .


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## Silverfire (17 October 2013)

RLS said:



			My vet phoned yesterday afternoon to say that teeth removal had gone all to plan, no major problems. So that's a big relief! 
I'm going to visit my li'l pony in horspital this evening after work. A friend did warn me - don't take him grapes - she had a wisdom tooth removed and nearly got a grape stuck in the gap! So, no grapes then, what about bananas? Those are his favourite.

Silverfire, how is your filly doing?
		
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RLS pleased to hear the teeth extractions went well. Hope your boy is back to himself soon.  My filly is okay thanks, not quidding as much as she was last week. Spoke to vet on Tues and asked about making them wider but he said he can't go any wider without risking damaging her teeth. He said to wait six weeks now then have another look. 

paulineh what is heparsulph? You are lucky that washing your horses mouth out is all you need to do. My filly has hers washed out twice a day with hibatine but it doesn't keep the gaps clear. She can't bear cold water or wet sloppy feeds they hurt her mouth too much.

beatrice what is your mums horses diastema filled with?


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## RLS (18 October 2013)

I brought my horse home last night. He seems to eating quite well - but still on painkillers and antibiotics. I asked the vet about washing out his mouth and he said it would not be necessary. He said that the hole in the gum left by the teeth removal was quite narrow and should close over well enough, he filled the holes with some artifical skin (I think he said that). Also that I should just feed him his normal food (fibrebeet, mix). He looked to be eating hay better already. And I can't believe the size of the teeth and roots! (I asked vet if I could keep them, was that a bit weird?). 
Please update on how other horses are doing.


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## beatrice (18 October 2013)

Im not sure what they are filled with. 

I would assume some sort of dental cement type stuff.


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## Silverfire (24 October 2013)

Hows your horse doing now RLS?  
My filly was eating quite well again with only a bit of quidding until late Tuesday. Since then she has just been quidding every mouthful and quidding on the quids unable to chew the hay enough to swallow it. Ive just given her some metacam and thats helped a little bit.  Shes having her mouth xrayed tomorrow.


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## RLS (25 October 2013)

oh Silverfire, your poor little girl. I hope the vet can sort something out to make her more comfortable. 
My horse is doing quite well, thanks. He is eating a lot better, he's finished the painkillers and antibiotics. I've only seen 1 or 2 chewed up lumps of hay on the stable floor in the morning and he's eating a good half of his haynet (he'd got to the point before where he wasn't even trying to eat his hay - so I'm happy with the progress so far). He's still to put some weight back on, he's just a little lean for this time of year. But I'm hopeful he's going the right way now!
Best of luck with the xray, let me know the outcome.


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## Silverfire (27 October 2013)

RLS said:



			oh Silverfire, your poor little girl. I hope the vet can sort something out to make her more comfortable. 
My horse is doing quite well, thanks. He is eating a lot better, he's finished the painkillers and antibiotics. I've only seen 1 or 2 chewed up lumps of hay on the stable floor in the morning and he's eating a good half of his haynet (he'd got to the point before where he wasn't even trying to eat his hay - so I'm happy with the progress so far). He's still to put some weight back on, he's just a little lean for this time of year. But I'm hopeful he's going the right way now!
Best of luck with the xray, let me know the outcome.
		
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Good to hear your horse is doing okay RLS, hopefully he will soon put weight back on. How often will he need his teeth floating from now on?
My filly had her mouth xrayed Friday. Everything normal, no problems. On Friday vet said her mouth is the best it has been, which is bit odd considering she is really struggling to eat hay. She is still quidding a great deal despite being on metacam and sometimes she is lying down holding a mouthful of shavings, shes finding these diastemas very painful. She has one really sore diastema on the leftside of mouth between 3rd and 4th tooth i think and then on her rightside she has a new one between her 5th and 6th tooth, her 6th tooth is still coming through. Vets looking in to filling the worst one with dental cement (and finding out if you can remove dental cement if needs be!).


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## Silverfire (7 November 2013)

Just updating this. My filly is still quidding quite badly, still on metacam. I've spoken to an Australian vet a few times on facebook who specialises in equine dentistry. He asked to see her xrays so emailed them to him and he said both her third lower adult teeth are trying to erupt into the teeth below them and that is not helping the diastema. Her third teeth still have the caps on which isn't helping either, so next week she is having the caps removed which will help heal the current diastema for now. Don't know at moment what can be done to help the adult third teeth to erupt correctly, vet is looking into it. Anyone else had a horse with a problem like this?


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## Silverfire (14 November 2013)

My filly had the caps removed off her third teeth yesterday. Vet said they would never have come off on their own, he took the top ones off too so that there is nothing to put any pressure on the new lower teeth coming up. Hopefully they might come up straight but its unlikely. Just removing the caps (and the diastema gap) has made a huge difference, she is already eating much better with hardly any quidding at times. Shes still on metacam at moment just while her mouth heals a bit as shes probably very sore, the lower caps didn't come off easily.


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## RLS (14 November 2013)

Silverfire said:



			My filly had the caps removed off her third teeth yesterday. Vet said they would never have come off on their own, he took the top ones off too so that there is nothing to put any pressure on the new lower teeth coming up. Hopefully they might come up straight but its unlikely. Just removing the caps (and the diastema gap) has made a huge difference, she is already eating much better with hardly any quidding at times. Shes still on metacam at moment just while her mouth heals a bit as shes probably very sore, the lower caps didn't come off easily.
		
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Oh, I'm glad that seems to have helped and she's eating better. Fingers crossed she continues to improve. 
My boy is just getting better and better. I'm now coming into the stable first thing in the morning and finding an virtually empty hay net, I have seem that for over a year!


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## RLS (15 November 2013)

Sorry, meant HAVEN'T seen that for over a year - stoopid fingers hit the wrong keys!


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## Silverfire (28 January 2014)

Thought i would update this. Its eleven weeks now since the four third (08) premolar caps were removed. My filly (shes four in June - can't call her a filly much longer!) is eating much better than she was, still quidding but not as badly as she was. *Vet came and looked in her mouth last week. All four of her third adult teeth are now up through her gum, we didn't know if the lower ones would be able to erupt but they have. Both are coming up on an angle but hopefully they might straighten up yet. The gum under the worst diastema (which was between third and fourth tooth) has completely healed and looks pink and healthy along with all the other widened diastemas. Frustratingly though her sixth lower adult teeth are coming through both with a gap causing diastemas. The right side sixth tooth is coming up on an angle and the diastema by that is very painful. Because its not fully erupted yet and because its on an angle there is nothing we can do about it for maybe another six months yet. So shes back on antibiotics as they help a great deal by treating the infection and inflammation in the gum (peridontal disease) caused by food packing in the diastema and into her gums.**


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## RLS (28 January 2014)

Hi Silverfire, thanks for the update. Glad your girl is eating better and I hope the antibiotics help her with the pain from the erupting teeth.
Toothache is just the pits! I've been to the dentist recently for my own teeth, and it's just not nice 
My boy is still doing well. The vet thinks he'll need he teeth check every 6 months from now on. But that's ok, horses with no dental problems usually get done every 12 months anyway.


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## Silverfire (29 January 2014)

RLS said:



			Hi Silverfire, thanks for the update. Glad your girl is eating better and I hope the antibiotics help her with the pain from the erupting teeth.
Toothache is just the pits! I've been to the dentist recently for my own teeth, and it's just not nice 
My boy is still doing well. The vet thinks he'll need he teeth check every 6 months from now on. But that's ok, horses with no dental problems usually get done every 12 months anyway.
		
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Pleased to hear your boy is doing well RLS. 
My filly is only on norodine antibiotic now, no pain relief in that. She was on metacam but just having a few days off that at moment as it iritates her a bit. She can't have doxycycline anymore (antibiotic with analgesic properties) because it makes her itchy and it seems likely it has/is damaging her teeth - some of her baby teeth had holes in them, hoping her adult teeth are all okay. I don't think the molars erupting are paining her much now she seems okay on just norodine. Back in December she went quite grumpy and agressive at times even on metacam but after a few days of norodine she was back to her usual sweet happy self. Shes lost a couple of incisors now too, she has a lot of teeth changing going on at the moment!*


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## Silverfire (26 March 2014)

Another update. My young mare has been quidding a lot again. The original diastema's were all healed, she just has the ones between her fifth and sixth lower teeth and even those weren't looking too bad. She's been quidding for almost two years now, sometimes just a little bit and sometimes very badly. Lately she has been quidding quite bad again, so last week she went to see Chris Pearce. He found her problem. Her teeth are sloping and she has no grinding surface, that's why she quids. Also the newly erupted teeth have no grinding surface on them at all they are just smooth like a new born foals teeth. Chris did some work on them so that now she has a flat grinding surface and he also made all the diastema's wider as some of them were closing up again. That was eight days ago and for those eight days she hasn't quid at all! She is eating really well, i didn't think that after nearly two years she would just instantly stop quidding.  She has been on antibiotics and previcox and have stopped them now and hope she will continue to be okay.  Since December the longest she has gone without antibiotics has been eight days so waiting to see what happens now over the next couple of weeks, she is still holding shavings in her mouth at times. This is a photo of some of her lower caps that she lost last year, they are the same - the first cheek tooth and both her third cheek teeth, you can see they are sloping. The first tooth she lost a month before she was three years old last May, the other two were removed last November.


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## RLS (27 March 2014)

Oh, very glad your mare is eating better. Hope she continues this way! I suppose the shavings thing could just be habit now? 
My boy is always holding something in his mouth - reins,/ leadrope/ my sleeve! But he's been eating very well and no problmes since his wonky teeth were removed last year.


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## Silverfire (27 March 2014)

RLS said:



			Oh, very glad your mare is eating better. Hope she continues this way! I suppose the shavings thing could just be habit now? 
My boy is always holding something in his mouth - reins,/ leadrope/ my sleeve! But he's been eating very well and no problmes since his wonky teeth were removed last year.
		
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Glad your boy is still doing well RLS.
I don't think its habit, she only does it when she's lying down. She's being biting the floor of her bed and holding bedding in her mouth since Nov 2011 but she often goes months without doing it and usually when she is doing it is when her teeth are bothering her most. She's not doing it as often this week as she was last week though. Here's a couple of pics of her last night. 



















and from another day


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## paulineh (28 March 2014)

I had my EDT come out on Tuesday to do my three . Two have Diastema ,one worse than the other. For other reasons I have both mares on the Turmeric , Black Pepper and Oil . My EDT commented that both mares mouths were cleaner and in better shape than she has seen. I continue to syringe their mouths out and the older mare has her feeds wetter. 

Both mares eat well other than the fact that the older one is more fussy , sometimes she wants it wet and some times she wants it dry.

Normally the older mare would have had to have Antibiotics and Bute after her treatment. This time I was told that she did not need them. I will continue to give them the Turmeric as I believe it is doing them good.


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## Silverfire (6 July 2014)

Another update. After seeing Chris my mare went three months with no quidding at all  amazing considering how long she had been quidding. It was an instant improvement and she went straight on hay after they were done (not soft feeds) and had one week of antibiotics and was okay after finishing them.   Then exactly three months to day Chris saw her she was quidding...  My vet was due next day anyway and he found she had a new diastema between first two lower left teeth,  which is where she had her first diastema when this all started when she was 17 months old. She hadn't been happy about something in her mouth for a couple weeks although hadn't been quidding. That was made wider and the others were re-done aswell and after a few days she stopped quidding again and has been okay since, although is still not happy about something in her mouth, when she first starts eating she looks like she is chewing carefully. She had a small lump come up on her face/nasal bone four weeks ago and I suspect that something is going on with one of her top left teeth now...


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## Silverfire (30 September 2015)

How are everyones horses doing? Haven't updated this for a while. My mare Silverfire is still having problems with diastema and things. She only quids a bit every now and again but she has spent most of the last five months breathing fast which I think is due to teeth pain.


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## FfionWinnie (30 September 2015)

My old horse had them and was not a good doer which was a problem. Fast fiber was a godsend. She has quidded all her life (now 17) and had extensive treatment at The Dick Vet to widen them, and had some extractions. She's never been unhappy in her mouth (unless you attempt to do her teeth without sedation these days!) generally but the weight has always been a problem in the winter. 

Syringing her mouth out even with water will help keep it clean. Mine will tolerate the hose!


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## Silverfire (8 October 2017)

Silverfire said:



			Diastema's - what treatment worked for your horse? Did your horse quid a lot before and after treatment? My 3yr filly is having probems with hers again. She has two each side of her mouth. They were made wider last Oct and improved for a while. Then made wider again in July and five weeks later had healed but she was on karidox at the time same as last Oct. Ten days ago she was unhappy about something on the leftside of her mouth, vet removed two loose caps and said her gums by the diastemas were sore again. Shes just finishing ten days norodine but still quidding really badly and not managing to eat much hay, she just quids the quidded quids. So what worked for your horse? Has anyones horse got dental cement in? Did your horse quid a lot? Thanks for any replies.
		
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Four years since I first wrote this post. Not much has changed, Silverfire is still having problems with diastema now with deep pockets and terrible peripheral caries that have removed the cement meaning the gaps cant close up. I have changed vets yet again and so far she seems to be improving with her new vet, but having to have vet flush her mouth and repack with dental putty every other week. The putty doesnt last long but will hopefully allow the pockets in her gum to heal. And for once she is managing to eat really well with the putty in unlike in 2012 and 2013 when it made her worse, unable to eat and had to be removed after three or four weeks (amazing it stayed in that long!).  Now she hardly quids at all, I've seen two quids in last week compared to a few weeks ago when she spent five or ten minutes quidding when she first started eating (that was having the gaps cleaned three monthly by a baedt vet I no longer use who said it was okay for her to quid first five minutes or so as she was okay after..). Silverfire has had her mouth checked at least three monthly for nearly six years. Hopefully she will improve with this new vet, so far shes eating much better


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## Silverfire (27 October 2017)

Silverfire said:



			Hows your horse doing now RLS?  
My filly was eating quite well again with only a bit of quidding until late Tuesday. Since then she has just been quidding every mouthful and quidding on the quids unable to chew the hay enough to swallow it. Ive just given her some metacam and thats helped a little bit.  Shes having her mouth xrayed tomorrow.
		
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Everything I write on this forum in my posts is true, whether everything I've been told is true is another matter...
This was Silverfire quidding in October 2013 when I first wrote this post
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBLCWDcJgfA


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## Silverfire (27 October 2017)

RLS said:



			Hi Silverfire, thanks for the update. Glad your girl is eating better and I hope the antibiotics help her with the pain from the erupting teeth.
Toothache is just the pits! I've been to the dentist recently for my own teeth, and it's just not nice 
My boy is still doing well. The vet thinks he'll need he teeth check every 6 months from now on. But that's ok, horses with no dental problems usually get done every 12 months anyway.
		
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Four years since I wrote this post. Ive been reading back through the comments and do you know what was really spooky about all of this with Silverfire - something I had actually totally forgotten about till recently because it was such a long time ago, but when I was little, probably only a bit older than Silverfire, I had to have four baby teeth removed just like her for the same sort of reason I think, how spooky is that coincidence....


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## Silverfire (27 October 2017)

And this was Silverfire quidding in July 2013 when she was just three years old after vet removed four of her caps, she had already lost two, that meant she had to eat on teeth with very painful diastemas. They were packed with putty but it had to be removed just over two weeks later as she couldnt chew properly as you can see in video. No wonder she got impaction/peritonitis colic three weeks later...not being able to chew properly slows movement of food through gut...and can cause impactions...not good for a horse who already lives with an impaction...Then in Sept he removed two more, one of those had fractured and twisted. Then in Nov she had the last four removed. I read somewhere baby teeth shouldnt be removed till they are ready, hope he hasnt damaged her teeth removing them all before their time was due.

https://youtu.be/32VBZL6aiPE


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## Silverfire (11 November 2017)

Well the no quidding didnt last long. Silverfire is now quidding again,  although I had once or twice seen a quid on the floor I hadnt actually seen her quid for almost a month. Shes still having her mouth flushed and dental putty repacked every two weeks but seems its not working as well now...


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## Silverfire (15 November 2017)

Can anyone else see this thread? Just asking.....


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## OldNag (16 November 2017)

Yes! Hadn't seen it before. What a long journey you and your mare have had.  A friend's horse is having major dental issues, it is horrible, isn't it.


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## Silverfire (20 November 2017)

Well I'm glad someone can see it.
Ive been thinking and Ive decided that I'm going to try letting nature heal my horse since vets are making no difference.


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