Effect of dental floating on the rostrocaudal mobility of the mandible of horses.

The research explores the impact of dental floating, a dental care procedure for horses, on the position and mobility of their lower jaw (mandible) relative to their upper jaw (maxilla). The study found a noticeable increase in mobility in horses that had undergone the procedure, suggesting that dental floating enhances the jaw movement in horses.

Methodology

• The study is a randomized controlled blind trial involving 59 stabled horses. The horses were arbitrarily placed into either a treatment group consisting of 33 animals or a control group with 26 horses.
• Each horse was sedated, and the researchers measured the distance between the front parts of the upper and lower tooth rows (incisor arcades).
• This distance was taken twice, once when the horse’s head was fully released and once when the poll (the highest part of the horse’s head) was flexed. The difference between these measurements was used to represent the rostrocaudal mobility (RCM) of the animal’s lower jaw.
• The horses’ oral cavities were thoroughly examined and for those in the treatment group, dental floating, a process that smooths the teeth’s surfaces, was performed. After the procedure, the incisor arcade measurements were repeated.

Results

• The result was a significant increase in the lower jaw’s rostrocaudal mobility in 31 out of the 33 horses in the treatment group, indicting that dental floating positively impacts jaw mobility.
• This increased mobility was more pronounced in heavier horses as compared to other breeds involved in the study.
• Interestingly, the age of the horses and the number of dental issues they had did not significantly alter the effect of dental floating on jaw mobility. This suggests that a horse’s jaw mobility improvement after dental floating is independent of its age and dental health.

Conclusion

• The findings from this study indicate that dental floating can increase the rostrocaudal mobility of the horse’s mandible, even though the measurement of this variable does not indicate the number or severity of dental lesions a horse may have.
• The researchers concluded that the study’s findings support the use of RCM measurements as a guide to determine whether dental correction is necessary for a horse, and subsequently after dental floating, to ensure that any irregularities on the chewing surface have been rectified.