# Overbites & Underbites



## seahorse (Aug 23, 2007)

Do y'all have any pictures of you minis with overbites and under bites that went away? If so please post pictures. I am thinking of getting a mini with one and would also like to know what a sever and minor one looks like. :lol:


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## Gizzmoe (Aug 23, 2007)

I have a girl here with an underbite. Will try and get pics of itt for you a bit later today if I can


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## nootka (Aug 24, 2007)

Most often, the underbite or overbite doesn't just "go away."

If it resolves, it is with the intervention of an equine dentist.

Whether the under or overbite is from a conformational issue (the way they are built in their skull/jaw) or a management issue (such as hooks or unshed caps), it needs to be determined by a competent equine dentist whether or not it would resolve or "go away."

IME, an underbite is more worrisome than an overbite, though anything that was more than a quarter tooth off is more than I ever want to deal with for a breeding horse.

I feel like I would never breed a horse with even a slight underbite, but the slightest overbite doesn't tend to carry the same other issues with it. If you look at the horses that have underbites, you can see it from the outside and often there are other conformation problems that suggest another condition, though not always.

Anyway, I wish I had pictures of the filly I had here so you could see her bite. It was what I consider severe, as in the upper and lower incisors barely met, it was 3/4ths tooth off.

Good luck! As long as you realize she will need more frequent dental work and exams, she is likely to be just fine as a pet.


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## wiccanz (Aug 24, 2007)

I have a colt who was born with an underbite - enough for me to say, upon first seeing him (he belonged to my mother-in-law at the time) "Oh well, he'll make someone a nice pet gelding".

Within 6 months his bite was 100% perfect, and now, at 10 months, it is still perfect.

No dentist has seen his teeth yet.


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## Cara (Aug 24, 2007)

um we have a 3year old mare, that has a underbite, it can be fixed by puting braces on her, but its very$$$$


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## Ashley (Aug 24, 2007)

With the amount of horses out there I would pass on one with a bad bite. UNless you truelly loved the horse.

I had a colt this year born with a off bite. I to said he would make a awsome gelding, with in a month his bite was dead on.

I had a mare once that had a perfect bite as a foal, went off at a year and came back on again.

Typically when they are born with a bad bite they dont fix.


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