Fractured lower jaw in 2 1/2 yo

vineyridge · Postby **vineyridge** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 7:45 pm

Anybody dealt with this? How long does it normal take for the bone to heal?

We're looking at a very complicated feeding process until he can chew normally.

zinn21 · Postby **zinn21** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:12 pm

Boy that sounds like a tough one. The jaw cannot be stabilized can it? What's your vet say/recommend? How did it happen?

vineyridge · Postby **vineyridge** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:20 pm

Pasture accident. One of the other horses probably nailed him.

The fracture isn't displaced, so there is no need for hardware if we can keep it stable and him comfortable. Right now he has raging ulcers (is at the vet school as I type), so we'll be treating the ulcers and trying to keep him well fed and happy on slop. Vet surgeon didn't want to do much of anything to his mouth yet--he'll be re-examined again in six weeks if all goes well. But the crack is all the way through the jaw bone and has gotten the root of a tooth that hasn't even erupted yet. Can't do anything about the tooth until the jaw heals.

That's why I was wondering how long Mother Nature took to heal a jaw.

Laurierace · Postby **Laurierace** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 4:40 pm

I think the answer is going to depend upon how stable the fracture is. If it moves around even a little bit, it may never heal. If it doesn't move around, healing should be relatively complete in six weeks. The young ones seem to heal even faster so you should see improvement quickly. Best of luck to you both.

nythoroughbredvz · Postby **nythoroughbredvz** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 5:12 pm

so how would you feed him to ensure he doesnt make matters worse? , grain mashes, alfalfa and timothy pellets as a mash?

Laurierace · Postby **Laurierace** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 9:17 pm

I am going to defer to you vet on feeding regimen, but what you listed sounds good to me. You might have to play around with different mashes until you find one he will eat a fair amount of. Its going to be hard to keep the ulcers at bay until he can go back to eating real food again so he might have to be on a longer than normal course of GG as well.

halfpint23 · Postby **halfpint23** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 8:21 am

Had a TB broodie break out the two incisors on the left UPPER jaw - rotated the teeth and a big chunk of bone right out of her mouth. I was braced to hear the bad news, and our vet says, "Oh, I think I can fix this" and proceeded to drill and wire her jawbone just like a people dentist would have......I was flabbergasted. The mare was SORE for a couple weeks, and ate only enough to keep going - I wetted her hay, made sure she didn't get stemmy stuff, and flushed the wound with a syringe with saline for a week - she did fine.

Of course, if it's broken through the molars, that's another ballgame, but I don't see why it couldn't be stabilized to assure a good outcome?