Commonly asked questions and their answers:
Q: What can regular equine dentistry do for you and your horse?
- Lessen feed costs and vet costs
- Improved head carriage
- Improve control and safety
- Better general attitude from your horse
- Longer life expectancy and more…
Q: How many teeth does a horse have?
- Between 36 and 44 teeth consisting of:
- 12 incisors (start as baby or deciduous teeth)
- 4 canines (generally only in males, only erupt as permanents)
- 4 wolf teeth (often only found on the upper arcades, if at all. Need to be extracted)
- 12 pre-molars (start as deciduous teeth)
- 12 molars (erupt only as permanent teeth)
Q: What is ‘floating’?
A: “Floating” is the process of filing a horse’s teeth. This removes the sharp points, or cusps, on the teeth. Proper examination and floating require the use of a gag/speculum. This device gently holds the mouth open so that the very back molars can be easily examined.
Q: What is the difference between canine and wolf teeth?
A: Canine teeth are generally found only in male horse’s and are set between the incisors and first pre-molars. These teeth were the ‘male fighting teeth’. The wolf teeth are found in both male and female horses and are positioned close to the pre-molars. These are short rooted and need to be removed so not to interfere with the bit. The canines are not able to be extracted.
Q: Does dentistry hurt the horse?
A: The equine tooth does not contain nerve endings, therefore the task of floating the teeth is not at all painful. The equine mouth has a high blood flow so any laceration, ulcer or gum damage will heal up often within 3-4 days.
Q: How long does an examination take?
A: Depending on the procedures that need to be undertaken, an average equine dental treatment should take between 25-60 minutes from start to finish.
Q: How old is my horse?
A: An equine dentist can accurately age your horse and show you how you can do the same just by looking at it’s teeth.
Q. My horse is between 2yo and 4yo and underneath its jaw, there is swelling. One of its front teeth is ‘sticking out’ too. Why is this?
A: The swelling is called ‘dental cysts’. This is due to the pressure of the permanent pre-molars trying to erupt through the gum and push the caps (baby teeth) off. These lumps will go away once the permanent has erupted and the cap is extracted. The front tooth is ‘sticking out’ because it too is a cap and needs to be extracted. All of this is happening because of the age of the horse and the normal growth of the equine tooth.
Q. My horse’s breath smells. Is this normal?
A: A horse’s breath should normally smell like grass and feed. If the smell is very off putting it could be due to disease, fermented feed or rotten gum or teeth. This should be addressed by an equine dentist.
Q. My horse is dropping a lot of feed. Is he just lazy or does he have a tooth problem?
A. Often a horse may drop a lot of feed because it puts too much food in it’s mouth and eats in a hurry or because it is lazy, or it may drop feed due to dental problems. To tell the difference, monitor your horse and if it has only recently started to drop feed and its environment has not changed then it is most likely dental problem. If the horse is putting to much in its mouth, try slowing it down by putting a brick or rock in its feed bucket to make your horse concentrate more.
Q. I don’t ride my horse anymore or my horse is really old and I doubt he has any teeth left! Do I still need a horse dentist to check them?
A: YES!!! All horses need regular dental treatments if you want them to be comfortable, healthy and happy.
All performance horses treated will have a 'bit seat' installed. 
