How often should horses’ teeth be checked?

When to begin and how often should horses be checked or treated?

Follow your Equine Dental Technicians‘ recommendations but as a guide, it is recommended that horses’ teeth should be checked from the age of 2yo preferably either in the process of being mouthed or the horse being well handled.

• Horses aged 5yo or younger every 3-6 months.
• Horses aged over 5yo on a grain diet ie Performance horse/riding horse every 6 months
• Horses on a grain diet ie Racehorse (Thoroughbred / Standardbred) every 3 months
• Horses over the age of 5 on a predominantly roughage-based diet with no dental malocclusions every 12 months.
• Horses with malocclusions ie parrot mouths/hooks/sow mouth every 6 months or the Equine Dental Technicians recommendation.

Why do horses’ teeth need regular floating?

Horses’ teeth continue to erupt for most of their life, replacing dental material worn away by the process of chewing. Horses have an incomplete bite and by chewing grass, grain, or hay various amounts of wear occur. The outside edges of the upper molars and the inside edge of the lower molars are never? worn causing sharp points to develop on the molars. The sharp points can cause ulcerations to the inside of the cheeks and tongue. The sharp points can also affect the feed-grinding efficiency of the horse’s mouth. By correctly filing the sharp edges the feed grinding efficiency is maintained and so is the welfare/comfort of the horse’s mouth. Abnormal wear patterns caused by malocclusions can also be managed by regular maintenance programs.