11/20/2025
A great post by our friends at Haymarket Vet! Long gone are the days where good advice is telling people that there is nothing we can do about EOTRH! We discuss this disease process with clients regularly. Dental radiographs are diagnostic and can help decide which teeth are affected and how severely they are. This is one reason why having an equine veterinarian perform sedated oral exams and dentistry with the option for dental radiographs is so important in the care of our horses.
Incisior extractions sound scary at first, but horses are immediately so much more comfortable and brighter after surgery which really highlights the degree to which their quality of life is impacted by the chronic pain this disease causes.
Reach out to your equine veterinarian with any questions you have!
Senior dental care continued—EOTRH edition
Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hypercemetosis 🦷
What is it?
-progressive condition of the most commonly the incisors/canines in older equines
-can be painful and limit ability to bite/graze
Clinical signs
-reluctance to graze or pull hay out of a hay net
-drooling
**most horses show minimal signs despite being painful**
Appearance of the teeth
-reddening/raised tissue at the gumline
-receding gum line
-“bulbous” appearing/swollen tooth roots
-ulcers/pustules along the gumline
-loose teeth
Diagnosis
-suspicions from oral exam
-radiographs of tooth roots needed
Treatment
-mild cases: dietary modifications, pain management
-severe cases: surgical removal of affected teeth, this is typically done just under standing sedation and local nerve blocks!
EOTRH is a sneaky disease and one that most horses don’t communicate how much it is truly affecting them.
The most common report we hear from owners after removal of teeth is “my horse is completely different, I didn’t realize how much pain those teeth were truly causing”
Schedule an oral exam today for your older equine friends if you have any concerns!
703-754-3309 📞
