Ageing Horses by Their Teeth

Being able to pinpoint age within a fairly narrow range can be of use to owners of unregistered horses or horses whose age is unknown for any reason. Many health and nutrition management decisions are directly related to age and dental wear, making it even more important for all horse owners to have a general understanding of how a horse's mouth changes with age.

From a historical perspective, up until recently when organized associations started keeping birth dates on registered horses, most professional horsemen took great pride in their ability to determine age by examining the teeth of any horse. Aging the horse by its teeth is not an exact science, but changes do occur that can help determine approximate age and anyone can learn the basics.

Bit Seating
 
Bit seating" or a "Bit seat" refers to the rounding and smoothing of the surface of the number 6 premolar teeth (these are considered the second pre-molars as the wolf tooth counts as the first pre-molar) in the horse. The procedure is often done to performance horses, as it is believed to improve athletic performance. Thenumber 6 is the tooth that acts as a stop for the bit. Horses that wear snaffle bits are believed to receive the most benefit as this jointed bit acts by squeezing the edge of the lip between it and the number 6 premolar.

Teeth Numbers
 
In order for dentists and veterinarians to be able to discuss problems with horses teeth accurately, a numbering system was introduced for the teeth. Looking at a horse from the front, you need to imagine a cross that has a vertical line drawn between the teeth in the front and the horizontal line drawn in between the jaws. We have now divided the mouth into four quadrants. Starting in the top left quadrant: this quadrant is referred to as quadrant 1. Moving clockwise, the top right quadrant is quadrant 2; the bottom right, quadrant 3 and the bottom left, quadrant 4
 
The teeth were then numbered within their quadrant. In quadrant 1, the incisor at the front, just to the left of the vertical line is tooth number 1, the next incisor is tooth number 2 and so on. The incisors take tooth numbers 1 to 3, the canine (if present) is number 4, the wolf tooth (if present) is number 5, the pre-molars are numbers 6 to 8 and the molars are numbers 9 to 11.

Pain Related Problems
 
In the above diagram you can see an example of a "wave complex". The horses jaw is similar to the human jaw in that it is supposed to be able to move side to side (laterally), have backward and forward movement (caudal - rostral movement) and also be able to move vertically - in an up and down direction. Everyone of these movements are obviously especially vital if a horse is being ridden. The wave complex as seen in the diagram above is a common problem which may lead to a horse "throwing" its head. Often we overlook "bad teeth" as the cause of this sort of behaviour, but this is just one example (others include ramps, hooks and uneven tooth angles) that can be helped significantly and if not cured, through regular, thorough treatment.

Work carried out to help the above type of issues can be done in as little as one hour. The hour spent on the horse using the latest dental techniques will reduce any pain in the head area and allow the jaw to move more freely. But as you can see, there is a lot more work being done than merely "taking off the sharp edges!".

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