Diastenma

[figgy]

Hi i have been told my 3 year old has diastenma( gaps between his teeth and food getting packed in making it hard for him to eat hay) and should grow out of it , but was just wondering if anyone has had the same problem with there young horses.

Thanks x x

 

[Berpisc]

Only came across this with an older horse, the owners were told to put him on short chop forage (like readigrass for example)

 

[JanetGeorge]

Hi i have been told my 3 year old has diastenma( gaps between his teeth and food getting packed in making it hard for him to eat hay) and should grow out of it , but was just wondering if anyone has had the same problem with there young horses.

Thanks x x

We've had one or two. It is caused by retained caps interfering with the proper alignment of the grinding surfaces - and forcing the teeth to grow sideways. Whether or not the diastema will close up depends on two things: first - how bad they are, and second, how well you take care of them!

Severe diastema do NOT grow out - there are several ways of dealing with them once you have as much improvement as you can get. Obviously your youngster needs REGULAR attention from a GOOD EDT - the teeth will wear down incorrectly and unevenly and this could cause more damage. The gaps will have to be cleaned out regularly (a big syringe with some weak salty water is good for the purpose) otherwise the 'guck' (technical term) stuck in there will rot and cause gum infection.