November: A Great Smile

November Case of the Month: Neil – A Great Smile

Neil is a miniature stallion who was purchased by his current owner this summer. Nothing is known about his previous dental history, and when a brief oral exam was performed this fall, he was noted to have a “smile mouth”. A smile mouth is a type of abnormal wear pattern of the incisor teeth where the upper central incisors are overgrown, as are the lower corner incisors. These uneven teeth create an arc to the bite of the incisors that matches a smile. While this permanent smile may be cute to look at, it affects the horse’s ability to move their jaw side to side, which means it’s harder for them to grind their feed and that their cheek teeth may wear abnormally. To correct this, the dominant (too long) teeth need to be shortened, which initially leaves a gap between the corrected teeth and their opposing teeth. Over time the shorter teeth will erupt up into the available space and start to level out the incisors. In Neil’s case all of the shortening that was needed to level out his incisor bite line could not be completed in one visit, as shortening the teeth further than we did would have risked exposing the living pulp cavity of the teeth, causing pain and the risk of infection within the tooth. Neil’s teeth will be re-evaluated in several months, and more adjustments can be made at that point if needed to eventually get him back to a completely normal mouth.