🩺 Retained Dental Caps in Horses: A Vet’s 2025 Guide | Dr Duncan Houston BVSc

Meta description: Retained baby teeth can disrupt adult tooth development, cause pain and performance issues—learn to detect, treat and prevent with twice-yearly exams and Ask A Vet support.

1. 🧬 What Are Dental Caps?

Dental caps are remnants of deciduous (baby) premolars or incisors that fail to shed between the ages of 2 and 5, interfering with adult tooth eruption—leading to sharp edges, misalignment, and discomfort :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}.

2. ⚠️ Why They Matter

• Permanent teeth forced to erupt incorrectly can cause chewing inefficiency, uneven wear, and malocclusion :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}.
• Sharp retained caps can lacerate cheeks or tongue, provoking head-tossing, bit resistance, or poor performance :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}.
• Can lead to quidding, drooling, weight loss, and slowed feed consumption :contentReference[oaicite:6]{index=6}.

3. 🔍 Recognizing the Signs

• Slow eating, dropping feed (“quidding”), excessive salivation
• Behavioral indicators: head-shaking, bit resistance, poor performance
• Visible retained caps on examination—often easily identified once mouth is speculum-held and sedated :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7}.

4. 🩺 Diagnosis & Veterinary Examination

• Thorough oral exam under sedation with speculum, light, and palpation :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8}.
• Revealing retained caps, malocclusion, sharp points or ulcers.
• Assessment includes cheek teeth and incisors to check for related issues like sharp enamel points :contentReference[oaicite:9]{index=9}.

5. 🛠️ Cap Removal & Treatment

The definitive treatment is extraction of retained caps:

• Standing sedation with speculum placement :contentReference[oaicite:10]{index=10}.
• Gentle removal using dental forceps; sedation ensures horse comfort.
• Post-removal: mild soreness, but eating typically normalizes within days :contentReference[oaicite:11]{index=11}.

6. 🏥 Aftercare & Healing

• Monitor appetite and chewing for 24–48 hours.
• Soft feeds if sore; NSAIDs may help with inflammation.
• Recheck bite alignment in 1–2 weeks; float sharp points if needed :contentReference[oaicite:12]{index=12}.

7. 🛡️ Prevention & Dental Schedule

• Biannual dental exams from age 2 to 5 to catch emerging issues :contentReference[oaicite:13]{index=13}.
• After age 5, annual (or biannual if performance horse) dental checks are essential :contentReference[oaicite:14]{index=14}.
• Use equine dental technician or vet for exam and floating.

8. 🤝 Ask A Vet Support Services

• 📋 Personalized teething schedules and reminders for foal dental checks.
• 📸 Upload mouth photos/videos for remote teething and cap retention assessment.
• 📆 Treatment and recheck alerts after cap removal or if abnormalities found.
• 🎓 Webinars: “Foal Teething Basics,” “Dental Floats & Alignment,” “Signs to Watch.”
• 🔁 Long-term tracking of dental health across life stages.

9. ❓ FAQs

Can retained caps resolve without treatment?

Rarely—they usually cause problems. Veterinary removal prevents complications :contentReference[oaicite:15]{index=15}.

Are caps painful?

Yes—sharp edges can ulcerate soft tissues and cause mouth pain during chewing or tack use.

Can caps impact performance?

Absolutely—bit avoidance, head-tossing and poor feed utilization are common signs of dental discomfort :contentReference[oaicite:16]{index=16}.

Who can remove caps?

Veterinarians or accredited equine dental technicians under vet authority can perform removal :contentReference[oaicite:17]{index=17}.

10. ✅ Final Takeaway

Retained dental caps are common but treatable. Timely detection, veterinary removal, and regular exams keep your horse comfortable, eating well, and performing optimally. With Ask A Vet support—remote monitoring, reminders, education—you’ll safeguard your equine’s oral health throughout 2025 and beyond. As Dr Duncan Houston, I’m here to guide every step of your horse’s dental journey. 🦷🐴