Inside the Modern Horses Mouth

Horses are herbivores and their teeth are designed for breaking down the hard structures like cellulose found commonly in the horses diet.  They have what are known as hypsodont teeth, meaning continuous eruption of the reserve crown of the tooth.  This matches the loss of tooth from the grinding down caused during mastication.

Numbers of teeth

• Horses have 24 deciduous teeth (non permanent) and 36 to 44 permanent.  The numbers of permanent teeth can vary mainly depending on gender.
• Male horses normally have 4 canine teeth; mares are often seen without any.
• 4 wolf teeth can sometimes be seen in horses although 2 on each arcade on the upper jaw are most common.  Male and female horses alike can show wolf teeth.

Types of teeth

There are 5 different teeth that can be found within horses’ mouths.

INCISORS

• These are the teeth situated at the very front of the horses’ mouth.  They are used in a pincer like action for nipping biting and defence.
• There are 12 in total, 6 on the top jaw 6 on the lower jaw.
• Incisors are used to age horses.  The occlusal surface of each tooth changes in appearance dependant on how old the horse is.
• Initially these teeth are more oval in shape but as the horse ages the shape of the incisors become triangular.
• The Galvaynes Groove is seen on the corner incisor teeth.  This is a longitudinal line that appears also used when ageing horses

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CANINES

• Canine teeth are situated caudally to the incisors.
• There can be 4 in total.
• They are curved in shape with most of the tooth still under the gum line. They can be up to 7cm in length.
• They are relatively simple teeth that the ancestors of today’s horses’ would have used for defence.

FIRST PREMOLAR (WOLF TOOTH)

• The wolf tooth is a small simple brachydont tooth, (short crown) although it can range in size from 1-25cm.
• There can be 4 in total.
• The roots of this tooth can vary from being nonexistent to being up to 30mm in length.
• These teeth can sometimes be found to erupt in varying places throughout the horse’s mouth although more commonly they are situated just in front on the first cheek tooth.

PREMOLARS AND MOLARS (CHEEK TEETH)

• Cheek teeth form 4 rows of 6 teeth that are accommodated in the maxillary (top jaw) and mandibular (bottom jaw) bones.
• These teeth are more rectangular in shape when a cross section is taken (down the transverse plane).
• The teeth on the maxillary arcades (rows) are wider and squarer than teeth on the mandibular arcades which are narrower and more rectangular.
• Ridges are seen on the buccal (outside) edges of the maxillary arcades in particular.  Many dental overgrowths are a common occurrence here.
• Tooth growth is seen on average at 2-4mm per year.
• The occlusal surfaces of these teeth are ridged to increase the amount of surface area for breaking down food.
• These teeth are used to grind foodstuffs in a circular sideways action.