Compacted food in teeth?

Amy&

Amy&

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Noticed today that my girl had a lump on the side of her face, along her jawline. I had a look at her teeth and managed to pull out some compacted food from the back of her mouth. The lump did feel smaller after this so I am fairly sure that was what caused it. She was eating fine afterwards and seems her usual self!

Has anyone experienced this before?

I had the dentist out about a month ago and everything fine but if it keeps happening I will get her out again. She is a very elderly horse now so I'm keen to catch any problems before they escalate.
 
My 4 yo does this-food packs into her right cheek when she eats mushy stuff (eg speedi-beet and occasionally grass). Had vet out and when we put the gag on could clearly see that she had a misaligned upper molar which was more centrally (towards the roof of the mouth and not in line with the other teeth) placed. No pain, no smell etc vet said it was one of those things and couldn't do anything about it as to remove tooth would leave a gap and cause more problems. When food gets stuck, I press the lump downwards and it goes, otherwise she cleans it herself with water and a mouthful of straw. Suprisingly during the summer she ate very slowly because of it and a lot got stuck-looked like a hamster, now she eats more quickly and less gets stuck-I am assuming that this is because she is hungrier in the winter and making sure more goes down rather than playing with it in her mouth! As yours is an older horse-has she perhaps lost all or part of a tooth causing a gap? Perhaps a visit from the dentist would find the problem? If she has a gap-food can get stuck in it for some time which may lead to infections/abcessing/rotting teeth etc so it would probably be a good idea to check it out if it happens again/frequently.
 
Gosh thanks for this post. I noticed something similar on my boys cheek this Summer and he has had a cheek molar removed many years ago so has a gap but never thought it could be food. Last week his old 'wound site' from removing the tooth via bucoctomy had swelled and he had a nasal discharge, cue panic as this was the original symptom of his fractured tooth all those years ago but it stunk and this time it doesnt. Vet cant see anything sinister but did remove food from the gap and has given ABs and Im praying they clear the infection and that it isnt another tooth problem but caused from impacted food between his teeth. Fingers crossed.
 
Diastema agreed is a possible cause, I am flushing out a small gap between my horses two teeth on the lower jaw, with a weak salt solution in a squeezy pastic bottle with a short piece of flexible tube. Symptoms, pulling a funny face when eating a carrot, smelly breath, where food had lodged and tenderness on the jawline when ridden, turning head to one side,
One of the fixes can be to create a larger gap between the teeth so food cannot lodge, or, as some posters suspect, a broken tooth?
 
Ask your dentist. Ive got a 20yr old horse who has had two teeth removed, he doesn't noticeably from the outside pack food in his cheeks, i don't wash his mouth out. I have a 26yr mare who has had a tooth removed and she has quite wide gaps between all her cheek teeth on lower jaw none of which is causing her any problems, the gaps do fill with food but her gums are pink and healthy, she doesn't noticeably pack food in her cheeks, i don't wash her mouth out. Then i have her 3.5yr daughter who does pack bit food in her cheeks depending which side of her mouth shes trying to eat on. She has had her third baby teeth removed top and bottom and has a gap there at moment. She has diastemas that have been made wider but they don't work very well and she has to have her mouth washed out at least twice a day otherwise her gums are really sore. She has other teeth probs too and quids a great deal.
*Other signs of teeth problems include quidding, thats rolling hay up in the mouth then spiting the roll (quid) out or just not eating much hay.
 
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