Brief review of equine dental anatomy, common abnormalities as well as how abnormalities are addressed and what constitutes a good dental examination.

1. Brandy Snedden, DVM
Preventative Dentistry
for Your Horse

2. Overview
 Adult horse teeth continually erupt until old
age.
 If these teeth are damaged or improperly cared
for, your horse can suffer from lifelong dental
problems in affected and surrounding teeth
 We have modified the horse’s diet and eating
pattern through domestication and
confinement.
 We often select breeding animals without
regard to dental considerations.

3. Teeth- Incisors
 Horses are grazing
animals and their
teeth are perfectly
adapted for that
purpose.
 The front teeth
(incisors) function
to tear off forage.

4. Teeth - Canines
 Often only in stallions and
geldings
 Rarely cause bitting issues
 Do not continuously erupt
 May have problems with
tartar, gingivitis, and
periodontal disease.
 Should not be cut off and
rounded or the enamel
penetrated as this can cause
a pulp infection.

5. First premolar – wolf teeth
 Vestigial premolars
 Do not continually
erupt
 Usually 1 just in front
of each row of upper
cheek teeth
 Erupt at 6 months to 3
years of age
 Often fall out when
lose baby first cheek
teeth

6. Cheek Teeth
 3 Permanent
premolars
 3 Permanent molars
 Used for crushing
and grinding
 Can have a wide
variety of
abnormalities that
will be discussed

7. Teeth

8. Teeth

9. Aging horses by their teeth
 Like people, horses get two sets of teeth in their
lifetime. The baby teeth (deciduous) are temporary
and are replaced at relatively consistent intervals by
adult teeth which allows us to age younger horses with
some accuracy.

10. Aging horses by their teeth
 Deciduous (baby) teeth
1st incisors (centrals) Birth to first week
2nd incisors (intermediates) 4-6 weeks
3rd incisors (corners) 6-9 months.
(Easy to remember 6 days, 6 weeks, 6 months)
1st, 2nd & 3rd premolars Birth to first 2 weeks
for all (cheek teeth) premolars

11. Aging horses by their teeth
Permanent (adult) teeth
1st incisors (centrals) 2 ½ years
2nd incisors (intermediates) 3 ½ years
3rd incisors (corners) 4 ½ years
Canines 4-5 years

12. Aging horses by their teeth
Permanent (adult) cheek teeth
Wolf teeth (1st premolars)5-6 months
2nd premolars 2 ½ years
3rd premolars 3 years
4th premolars 4 years
1st molars 9-12 months
2nd molars 2 years
3rd molars 3 ½ to 4 years

13. Aging
 Most accurate during eruption of adult teeth
 After eruption other indicators of age include the
following.
 Incisor shape
 7 year hooks and Galvayne’s groove
 Dental stars, cup disappearance

14. Tooth Structure
Due to the horse’s roughage based diet, their teeth
need to work like a file to break the forage into
small digestible pieces as well as being able to
survive the pressure of constant grinding.
Structural Components
 Cementum
 Dentin
 Enamel

15. Teeth
 Beginning when horses permanent
teeth are in place, they will
continually erupt (not grow) 3-4
mm/year as they wear.
 Some of the tooth wear is dependent
on the horse’s diet with high
roughage diets encouraging more
even wear of the teeth.
 Horse teeth often run out of root
sometime in a horse’s mid twenties.

16.  The long tooth roots
may be evident as
“eruption bumps” on
the bottom of the lower
jaw of young horses.
 These eruption cysts
typically occur at 3-5
years of age and can
take 1-2 years to
decrease in size.

17.  Many of the tooth roots in
the upper jaw are
actually located in the
sinuses so an abscessed
tooth can lead to a sinus
infection causing nasal
discharge.

18. Anisognathia
 Because the horse’s lower rows or cheek teeth are
closer together than the upper rows of cheek teeth and
the horse chews with a sideways motion, sharp points
form along the outer edges of the upper cheek teeth
and the inner edges of the lower cheek teeth.
 These points can cause ulceration of the cheeks and
tongue and are the primary cause for routinely
“floating” horse’s teeth.

19. Dental Problems
 Horses with dental problems may show obvious signs
such as pain and irritation. However, they may show no
noticeable signs at all as they simply adapt to their
discomfort.
 Indications of dental problems may include:
 Loss of feed from the mouth while eating, difficulty with
chewing or excessive salivation
 Loss of body condition
 Large or undigested feed particles (long stems or whole
grain) in manure
 Accumulation of balls of forage between the cheek teeth
and cheek.

20. Indication of dental problems
continues
 Head tilting or tossing, bit chewing, tongue lolling,
fighting the bit or resisting bridling
 Poor performance such as lugging on the bridle, failing
to turn or stop or even bucking.
 Foul odor from the mouth or nostrils or traces of blood
from the mouth
 Nasal discharge or swelling of the face, jaw or mouth
tissues.

21. Oral Exam
 An oral exam should be an essential part of an annual
examination by a veterinarian.
 Every dental exam provides the opportunity to perform
routine preventative dental maintenance
 The end result is a healthier, more comfortable horse.

22. The Complete Evaluation
 Shouldn’t the teeth, mouth, and head be evaluated?!
 Tools for a complete dental examination:

23. The Complete Evaluation

24. The Complete Evaluation

25. The Mouth as a Functional Unit
 Remember that the mouth is connected to the rest of
the body
 Chewing abnormalities can affect the
temporomandibular joint and neck

26. The Complete Evaluation
 Why visual, palpable, and probe assessment are all
important:

27. Abnormal Wear
enamel points hooks & ramps
waves & steps transverse ridges

28. What is wrong with these teeth?

29. What’s wrong with these teeth?

30. Floating Teeth
 Removal of sharp enamel points
 Balancing of mouth?

31. Floating Teeth

32. Floating Teeth

33. What about power tools?
When used conservatively,
power tools can allow the
veterinarian to better
address malocclusion.
When used to excess they can
open pulp chambers,
leading to risk of tooth
abscess.
Use of power tools may
require a deeper sedation
than hand tools.

34. The Age factor
 Foals should be examined shortly after birth and
periodically during the first year to diagnose and correct
congenital dental abnormalities.
 Yearlings have been found to have enamel points sharp
enough to damage cheek and tongue tissue. Floating
will make them more comfortable.

35. The age factor
 Horses going into training for the first time, especially 2
and 3-year-olds, need a comprehensive oral
examination. Teeth should be floated to remove any
sharp points and checked for retained caps. Caps
should be removed as is appropriate.

36. The age factor
 Horses 2 to 5 years old may require more frequent
dental exams than older horses. Deciduous teeth tend
to be softer than permanent teeth and may develop
sharp enamel points more quickly
 Twenty-four deciduous teeth will be shed and replaced
by 36 to 40 adult teeth, with the potential for 12 to 16
teeth to erupt simultaneously. Horses in this age group
may need to be examined twice yearly, and any
necessary procedures should be performed.

37. The age factor
 Mature horses should be examined at least once a year
to maintain correct dental alignment and to diagnose
dental problems as early as possible.
 Senior horses (17+) are at a greater risk for developing
periodontal disease. It is important to maintain an even
bite plane during a horse’s teens in order to ensure a
functional grinding surface beyond 20+ years.

38. The age factor
 Beyond the age of 20, tooth surfaces may be worn
excessively and/or unevenly and dental alignment
correction may be impossible.
 Horses 20+ years should receive dental evaluation and
nutrition counseling at least annually in order to
maintain their conditioning and quality of life.
 With proper and routine dental care, many horses will
maintain functional dentition into their third and fourth
decades of life.

39. Veterinarian or “Equine dentist”?
 Ohio Revised Code 4741.19 (2) A registered veterinary
technician operating under direct veterinary supervision
may perform all of the following:
 (c) Equine dental procedures, including the floating of
molars, premolars, and canine teeth; removal of
deciduous teeth; and the extraction of first premolars
or wolf teeth. The degree of supervision by a licensed
veterinarian over the functions performed by the
registered veterinary technician shall be consistent with
the standards of generally accepted veterinary medical
practices.

40. Equine dentist?
 An “equine dentist” does not have training similar to a
human dentist. There are no rules or regulations to
calling oneself an equine dentist.
 Education may range from attending classes for several
weeks + an apprenticeship to simply buying the tools
and hanging out a shingle.
 No malpractice insurance or license so if anything goes
wrong there are no direct repercussions
 Not legally allowed to use sedation.
 Unable to diagnose other underlying conditions if
present.

41. Veterinarian?
 Variable education in vet school (depending on school
attended). Many veterinarians interested in dental
work have attended extensive continuing education on
the subject.
 Possess both malpractice insurance and a license.
 Legally allowed to sedate.
 Can diagnose other underlying conditions.

42. Which to choose?
 Ask what is included with the service.
 Speculum exam?
 Sedation?