Apollonia (named after the patron saint of dentistry) is a cute little APHA paint baby living at Painted Bar Stables. She was the product of a breeding by their stud and a mare in OH. While her body is very well proportioned and her temperament fantastic, at 2 months of age it was noticed that she had developed a terrible parrot mouth.
Parrot mouths are not a "genetic issue" from one or both parents. They are the result of a genetic incompatibility between parents resulting on mismatched jaw/head or problems with how the jaw naturally ties into the rest of the skeletal structure of the head. Basically, the mare and stallions heads just do not fit together (Reference:http://evds.net.au/article_parrot_mouth.php).
Because the owner of the foal had exclusively bred for halter - and a parrot mouth eliminates a foal from competition - it was decided that Apple would move to NY to become a trail horse at Painted Bar Stables and a long term procedural example and model for Endless Mountain Equine Dentistry.
Apple will need regular appointments to continue to correct the angles of her teeth and to encourage proper placement of her jaw. While she may never be fully corrected, our goal is to at least restore some occlusion between her incisors.
Apollonia: progress at 1st dentist appointment (age 7 months, 1 week)
PHOTO 1:The first photo shows Apple's natural alignment at 7 months & 1 week of age. As illustrated in the photo her top incisors protrude nearly 1" past her bottom incisors providing zero contact and occlusion. As a result both sets of incisors have no wear as they grow and are overgrown, giving a "buck tooth" appearance.
What you cannot see is that the molars are also not aligned either. As a result large hooks have developed on the top front molars (1/6 & 2/6) and large ramps on the lower rear molars (3/8 & 4/8 - the rest of the molars have not yet emerged. The result is that the entire jaw is locked backward.
PHOTO 2: The second photo is after molars have been treated. All of the molars have been filed and a new angle has been introduced to the entire surface of the molars, shortening the lower rear molars and the upper front molars to encourage the entire jaw to sit further forward.
After this procedure, there was still a lack of occlusion of the incisors but the overbite was greatly reduced.
PHOTO 3:The third photo shows the final stage after this first visit. The incisors have been realigned and shortened to their proper length.
After this was done the jaw now was able to move forward significantly. While there is still a significant overbite, there is finally the beginnings of occlusion as the incisors touch.
MARCH 2014 UPDATE: http://paintedbarstables.blogspot.com/2014/03/parrot-mouth-2-ongoing-observation-of.html
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