While many horse owners are becoming aware of the importance of equine dental care through media attention and increasing veterinary education, the majority might not have a working knowledge of the horse's dentition or masticatory apparatus (all the components needed to chew stemmed roughage). But if an educated horse owner wishes to make informed decisions about health care for his or her equine companion, he or she needs to understand the basics of equine dentition and how the teeth affect overall health–after all, proper mastication is the first step in the long process of digestion. Armed with this fundamental knowledge of dentition, the owner will be better able to ask the right questions and have appropriate expectations for their equine health care providers.

Back to Basics

Let's start with the basics: anatomy. A normal mature horse (at least 6 years of age) should have between 36 and 42 teeth, depending on gender and presence or absence of wolf teeth. The incisors, the teeth you see immediately inside the horse's lips, are useful for nipping grass and for defense and grooming, but they have an even more important function in the biomechanics of mastication. Their health, wear patterns, and physical length can determine how efficiently the grinding teeth, farther back in the mouth, can do their job