Many people have horses in this age group – 18 and over.  For many there has been little if any dental care.  So first I will tell you what happens to the teeth in older horses and what if anything dentistry can do to correct issues.

By age five all of  your horse’s permanent teeth should be in wear (36-44 teeth) and the reserve crown/root (under the gum line) will be done developing by age eight.  (1)  The teeth will continue to erupt until there is only a short root left under the gum line.  At this point the tooth will no longer have any hard enamel surface so it will cup out as the opposing tooth grinds against it. This is called an expired tooth.  All horses wear their teeth to the root if they live long enough.

The first teeth to expire are usually the upper nine molars and usually around age 18 or so. The next teeth to expire should be the upper 8’s and 10’s.  It is important to be diligent about dental care at this point because the opposing teeth may erupt more than they should and can cause the lateral movement of the jaw to be limited, the expired teeth to become loose and food can get packed in the gum line around the loose tooth.

The horse will also lose occlusion (the ability for the opposing teeth to grind against each other) with the expired teeth, making digestion more difficult because food is not chewed completely and can cause colic, intestinal impaction or loss of weight.  This is a good time to change to feeds and dietary supplements for senior horse.

You also need to watch for loose teeth.  If the tooth can be removed with minimal force, it should.  Sockets of loose teeth are prone to infection because food particles get easily stuck between the tooth and gum.

As the horse gets older you will still need to float the teeth to remove sharp enamel points. It should be done with hand tools to reduce the vibration caused by some power equipment.  Any work done on an older horse should be conservative.  It is much better to do a little at a time and more frequently then to be aggressive and remove too much tooth.  It is also more of a challenge to balance the mouth because of the uneven height of expired and non-expired teeth.  Again it is important to be conservative.    

Reference (1) Horses’ Teeth and Their Problems by Dr. Kai Kreling 2004