Potential impact of natural conditions on the rostral oral health: a study of horses in Iceland.
Authors: A. M. Hain, Sonja L. Þórisdóttir, Melusine Tretow, A. Bienert-Zeit
Journal: Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
Summary
# Editorial Summary: Natural Conditions and Rostral Oral Health in Icelandic Horses Researchers examined 170 elderly Icelandic horses (aged 15+) to understand how environmental and management factors influence the health of incisors and surrounding oral tissues, particularly in the context of Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hypercementosis (EOTRH). Owner questionnaires gathered information on housing, feeding, and dental treatment protocols, whilst clinical examinations assessed gingival disorders, dental calculus, incisor integrity, bite angle and tooth mobility across horses from different Icelandic regions. Despite low frequency of preventive dental interventions, the cohort demonstrated remarkably good rostral oral health in advanced age, with minimal tooth loss, gingivitis or gingival recession; notably, calculus was more prevalent on canines than incisors. Because dental treatment uptake was sparse, the investigators attributed this favourable outcome to Iceland's distinctive management conditions: year-round pasture living with minimal supplementary feed, suggesting that continuous chewing of native forage and consistent mechanical stimulation may provide sufficient protective benefit for both tooth structure and periodontal health in older horses. For practitioners working in more intensive management systems, these findings indicate that pasture-based lifestyles and natural foraging patterns warrant serious consideration as foundational preventive strategies, potentially reducing reliance on frequent dental interventions whilst supporting long-term oral tissue integrity.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •Continuous access to pasture and native forage, promoting constant natural chewing, may be more protective for incisors and supporting tissues in aging horses than frequent professional dental treatment
- •Consider whether your management model (intensive supplementary feeding, reduced chewing time) may be contributing to preventable dental disease in elderly horses—natural grazing may be the better preventive strategy
- •Monitor canines separately from incisors as calculus accumulates differently; incisor-focused prevention protocols may miss significant canine pathology
Key Findings
- •Despite minimal preventive dental care, elderly Icelandic horses (≥15 years) showed remarkably low prevalence of tooth loss, gingivitis, gingival recession, and incisor calculus
- •Calculus occurred more frequently and severely in canines than incisors across the study population
- •Year-round pasture living with minimal supplementary feeding and continuous natural forage chewing appeared protective for rostral oral health in aged horses
- •Dental health findings were consistent across different geographic locations in Iceland, suggesting management practices rather than environmental location were the determining factor