Lizard is a beautiful 8 year old Australian Stockhorse gelding who presented at our clinic with lump on the left side of his jaw. 

 

The lump was located directly over the root of the “308” tooth which is the 3rd premolar at the back of the mouth.  Xrays were taken which revealed that there had been some trauma to the jaw resulting in a loss of blood supply to this tooth.  If left, over time the tooth would rot and a tooth root infection would develop.  Given this diagnosis, the decision was made to extract the tooth.

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Extractions are performed at the Illawarra Equine Centre Clinic as a standing surgery under a constant rate infusion with a mandibular nerve block as well as gingival nerve blocks to desensitise the tooth and the surrounding area. 

 

In horses, as with most animals, it is important to get on top of these teeth issues early, to reduce the chance of infection which could cause a sinusitis or alveolar bone infection, which can then become much more difficult to treat.

 

Lizard was booked in for a short stay at the clinic and the surgery was performed by Dr Nikita McAdam.  The procedure went smoothly and the tooth was extracted cleanly.  Post-surgery, Lizard recovered very well and was feeling much more like his normal self about an hour later!  We were pleased to see he was tucking into his feed the following morning.

 

Post-surgery the socket was carefully cleaned daily and packed with gauze while the granulation tissue filled up to the level of the tooth, at which point it was able to be left to heal naturally.

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