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A dental mirror reveals a small diastema into which food is packed
and also to stop new fibrous material from entering the gaps. This treatment can be repeated several times and ideally the response to treatment and assessment of the mouth should be done regularly even if clinical signs of oral pain are not present.
If the condition does not respond favourably to this initial treatment, then the gaps may require to be widened so that food may move freely between teeth without becoming trapped. This is done using a special burr on a motorised dental rasp that grinds out the edge of the two teeth adjacent to the diastema. The gaps are widened progressively with thicker burrs till the valve is fully open. Horses usually require to be sedated and local anesthetic injections may be used to help control pain. Care must be taken not to grind into the sensitive part of a tooth or to allow too much heat to build up in the burr. Treatment is usually successful
Widening a diastema is done using a special burr on a motorised dental rasp
but, because teeth grow continuously during a horse’s lifetime, eruption will result in gradual narrowing of the gap and may therefore necessitate further attention. In younger horses often less treatment is required, as the teeth appear to gradually form a tighter alignment.
If a diastema is the result of a misplaced/displaced tooth, then extraction of the offending tooth should be considered. Some food can become trapped in diastemata that are not painful, nor associated with damage to the gum. These are probably not clinically significant and best to be monitored regularly.
In most cases of diastemata it is usually necessary to modify the diet by excluding coarse long fibre forages and replacing with more finely chopped forages. In the most severe cases long fibre may have to be replaced completely by soaked high fibre mashes.
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