# Tooth Bumps



## Nancy G (Mar 12, 2007)

Hi, I would like some information on "tooth bumps" These are not on the bottom jaw line but on the face, just below the eyes. The vet told the owner they were nothing to worry about & will go away in time??? I think he should be seen by an equine dentist? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

This horse is a miniature and three years old in June. Thanks :saludando:


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## midnight star stables (Mar 12, 2007)

Tooth Bumps are 100% normal and 100% ugly :bgrin They will go away in time, a year or so. They usually hit around that time too.




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## Dona (Mar 12, 2007)

No....they do NOT always go away with time. Sometimes caps don't come out on their own & need to be pulled. I know this from experience. Long ago when I first got into minis ,I had a mare this happened to. Her "bumps" were on the bottom, but my vet told me the same thing. "They'll go away when her caps come in". So, I did nothing....just waited. The bumps only got bigger...they looked like two huge golf balls on the bottom of her jaw!



Then I was introduced to Carl Mitz, who examined her & told me it was too late to do anything (she was 6 years old by this time). The bumps had calcified, and were now permanent. So she was stuck with those disfiguring "bumps" for the rest of her life. :no:

Carl told me.....when you start seeing "tooth bumps", the horse usually needs to have caps pulled....now!

Or, at least be checked by a competent Equine Dentist!

It is especially important to have young Minis checked regularly while teeth are coming in.


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## rabbitsfizz (Mar 12, 2007)

I second what you BOTH say!!

They are normal.

They do NOT always go with time.

Personally, in a show horse at least, I tend not to wait at all- obviously if they are upsetting the horse at all I do not wait either.

I do think a visit form a Dentist is in order and I will stress here that your Vet is not always the best person to ask as Vets have very little dental training- UNLESS they are Dentists too.

My last Vet was- he was also a farrier, but he is now retired and the young ones do not have the training.

If you can get a specialist that would be by far the best thing to do.

But I would definitely get it checked over.


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## HGFarm (Mar 12, 2007)

I agree...... I had a mare whose tooth bumps did not go away, and Carl was here and fixed that. However our neighbors little stallion has huge tooth bumps, but is just turning three this year, and Carl did not do anything with his. They have gone down some, so perhaps nothing will be needed in time.

We ALWAYS have an annual dental checkup every year on all the horses, whether we think they need work or not. Since we are not experts, we cannot tell, so have Carl look at them ALL.


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## Nancy G (Mar 12, 2007)

I would love to have Carl check my herd but ~~ he never comes quite close enough to Central Pa. Wish he did. Thanks for the ionformation.


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## HGFarm (Mar 12, 2007)

We are in AZ and he flies out every year.... but has been for quite some time now. Has anyone in your club or area tried to contact him? I know he is at Nationals usually too.


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## Nancy G (Mar 12, 2007)

I believe he requires quite a few horses to come to an area. I could run it by the club and see if we could get enough together. We have 25 horses here so that`s a start!!



I had heard that he might be cutting back some? Thanks


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## lilhorseladie (Mar 12, 2007)

I had a tooth bump I was sure on the face. I waited for six months and it was still there...took her to the vet, it actually was an abscess from a fragment of bone. I felt aweful for letting her have that for that long.


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## MiniJoys (May 28, 2007)

Can someone post a pic of a horse with tooth bumps or describe what they look like? I am not sure what they look like but have been told my horse has them. He is a 3 year old stallion.


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## Jill (May 29, 2007)

"Upper" ones do not always go away and I think, usually, they happen about 1 year after you expect to see lower ones.

If possible, I'd have a dentist.

When a mare of mine, Khaki, had what I thought was Upper Tooth Bumps (like you say, started below the eyes), she was only 2yo. I mentioned it to the vet when he was out not expecting any resolution to it at all. He looked and said she had "big head syndrom" which is caused by a calcium / phopsherous (sp?) imbalance.

She'd had colic surgery the year before and was on a diet of mostly hay cubes and soaked beet pulp, per the surgeon.

What we did was put her on a supplement the vet recommended. I don't now remember the name. We also started to give her complete pellets which the vet said was fine for her. Slowly, those upper bumps went away.

THEN, they came back a year or 18 mos later, but at that time, they were just from her teeth growing / shedding. I don't recall now how long this "normal" right of passage lasted, but her head is now normal without any bumps, upper or lower.

Additionally, if you remember "Stacey" who posted here years ago? She had a senior mare named Kat at one point and this mare (silver bay) had these upper tooth bumps. I do not know if it was from an imbalance as we caught and fixed with Khaki, or if it was from some kind of retained teeth issues? But this mare was over 5yo and the situation was beyond being fixed at that stage.

You may be able to google and find information about horses and "big head syndrom". It, of course, has a technical name but this is what my vet called it and when I investigated, I was able to find additional information. I do think with this kind of problem, and with teeth that are not shedding properly, timely intervention is important. Sometimes just a floating will knock the caps off and get things going as they should assuming it is not big head syndrom (which requires supplementation / diet changes).

Here you can see *Triple H Buckin Khaki* (buckskin) with these upper tooth bumps (big head sydrom was gone prior to the bumps) and see her "currently" all normal.


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## Jill (May 29, 2007)

This might (?) be a good thread for the "best of" board. We all have talked about the lower tooth bumps, but I don't think enough people know to be aware of the upper ones which are sometimes not as noticable (and sometimes more so which can scare owners), plus about needing to look for that "big head syndrom".


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## Jill (May 29, 2007)

Ooops, forgot to show the more common "lower" bumps. Here they are on *Harmony Hills Harvest Gold*, who is 3yo I think where you can see them. Pictured before them, during them, and after them to show the way it goes...

*Before:*










*During:*
















*After:*


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## Lost Spoke Ranch (May 29, 2007)

We have a three year old appy mare that started with a bump a little more than half way down the left side of her nose last fall. Thought it would go away on its own, but spring rolled around and it was still there and beginning to discharge. We decided to call a dentist to have a look. They pulled a cap, took some X-Rays, and put her on some antibiotics. The X-Rays came back clean with no structural damage and the discharging stopped, but the swelling still hadn’t gone down and the dentist suspected an abscess. We were instructed to pack her nose twice a day with warm/hot Epsom salt to draw the abscess out. We are on day three; her abscess has broken open and draining with the swelling down considerably.

Dawn :saludando:


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## HGFarm (May 29, 2007)

Dawn, are you letting her use the neti-pot? LOL

If they are there for a length of time, or if they look 'lopsided' or unusual swelling, definitely have them looked at. My mares bumps went away after the dental work. The neighbors little stud was so bad, that his winter hair actually stuck out over them like it was combed that way, which made it even worse looking.

It seems sometimes, possibly due to lack of room, the smaller horses look worse- but I have had some that really didnt show any much at all, and a couple that were pretty big.


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## chandab (May 30, 2007)

I have a 4 year old silver mare that had horrible upper jaw tooth bumps last year. She was at the vet in February, he said her teeth weren't bad enough to worry about; it was fall before the equine dentist made her rounds this way (she floated them at that time). During the course of the last year, she shed 7 caps (I found them around her corral, she's the only horse in that pen and she's the only horse I own at the age to be shedding caps). This spring after losing most of her winter woolies, she now has a nice shaped head; not dished or overly refined, but a nice clean profile with no ugly bumps. I was starting to think she'd just be stuck with those bumps, but they have gone away. [she's not a show mare, so wasn't a big issue, but I'm glad they have gone away.]

Now, I have a two year old with the start of upper tooth bumps; the equine dentist will check them all at this year's appointment.


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## WICKERSHAM MINIATURES (May 31, 2007)

Nancy,

Yes, please have an equine dentist check your baby's tooth bumps. I have only had one horse that has ever had any trouble with tooth bumps, but they ended up disfiguring her face. I sold her before the bumps got bad and the new owner didn't do anything about them until is was almost too late. My vet also told us (the purchaser and myself at the same time during a checkup before the lady bought my little filly ) that the tooth bumps would go away. They didn't and the horse got ugly. She started to show signs of the bumps being painful before the new owner did anything. It ended up that the horse needed her baby caps removed so that the new teeth could come in. The bumps did get smaller but I am not sure that the horse's face will ever look normal. It was costly too. Had the lady taken the horse to the equine dentist sooner, things would have all turned out better. The little filly's brother started out looking like he was going to have the same problem, but he didn't. I took him to the equine dentist and everything was okay. Nothing had to be done to him and he is one of my prettiest horses today!!! So, YES, have them seen about before it is too late.



:

Cindy Wickersham


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## MyMenagerie (May 31, 2007)

If they have tooth bumps that don't go away, does it effect their show-ability at all? Is it frowned on at all, or is it something that's ok? Just curious


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## Jill (May 31, 2007)

I think past the age where tooth bumps are expected, they would for sure hurt a horse's placing in halter classes, but not in performance classes.


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## joylee123 (Nov 9, 2008)

[SIZE=12pt]I have a very small mare 26.5, a coming three year old, who has awful bumps. Her head is very small and her bumps are the worst I've ever seen, although that being said, *not unusual *because of her size. I take her to the vet every 6 weeks. They file her teeth down and leave a very slight gap between the upper and lowers molars. The gap is small enough not to interfere with her chewing, but allows the teeth to grow out faster, without interference. She has gone 4 times now (two days ago was the last time) and her bumps have gone down DRASTICALLY! and her front bite is almost perfect



[/SIZE]

With this little girl, had I left her alone to allow the teeth to grow out by themselves, she may have had some serious problems (her upper bumps were and still are, interfereing with her breathing, she sounds like something is up her nose) and most likely would have had a permanant off bite in the front. I have also, during this time, been feeding her up higher than I normally would, placing her feeder up a little higher than chest high to help encourage her bite to come out straight. So far so good



vet thinks two to three more times (over the next 21 weeks) and her caps should be far enough along to pull, hopefully





She has such an araby little face



Can't wait to see her all done with the bumps





Joy


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## Up&Over (Mar 8, 2009)

from the past 11 years of me breeding Miniature Horses, my horses had always started to get toothbumps at around 2 years and up to 3 years (infact my show gelding Rowdy has them now) and i have never had a problem, they are nothing to worry about and they do go away in time, by all means get the vet out to check them, but its not really necessary, if they look too big then i would consider the vet, but to me, toothbumps that are the natural ugliness that all of them have to go through lol


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## ddeeva (Jun 26, 2009)

I have been told that the bumps under the jaw come from teeth that are ready to grow up but can not due to caps not coming off naturally. If you plan to show or want to eliminate the rough looking under jaw, have a dentist or compitent vet check especially around age 4 or as soon as you notice bumps. Some caps pop off on their own, some need help.

SOme vets dont have the proper dental equip or dont want to mess with dental issues. Ive been told that someone who is trained & specializes would be the best.


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