Information

A horses mouth is made up of incisors, wolf teeth, canines, premolars and molars, hard and soft palate, bars, tongue and frenulum.


Three point balance
This is the sharing of pressure on;
1) The TMJ (Temporomandibular joint)
2) The cheek teeth
3) The Incisors


For the whole head to function correctly its important to balance the three points + achieve the sharing of the pressure so the head, jaw, teeth and muscles work together harmoniously and equally otherwise one or more area's will be working harder and over compensating for a problem within the mouth which will lead to various problems.


Hard and Soft Palate
The roof of the mouth from the incisors to the level of the last molar is the hard palate. The soft palate is the back of the roof of the mouth, soft and flexible.


Tongue and Frenulum
The frenulum is a kind of membrane, which anchors the underside of the tongue, keeping the tongue in place. The tongue is a large muscular organ, which moves food along the molars from the front of the mouth to the back as it is chewed. Tongues are quite fragile and should never be pulled out to the side or any other way.


Bar
The bars are the area of the mouth in which the bit sits. The space between incisors and pre-molars where there are no teeth, just the gum covering the jaw bone. This area is delicate, sensitive and easily damaged.


Incisors
Central incisors are numbered 1
Median incisors are numbered 2
Corner incisors are numbered 3


Incisors are also known as "nippers". Grass is selected by the lips and cut with the front teeth (incisors). The tongue then moves the foods back to the pre-molars and molars (cheek teeth) this is the beginning of the digestive process. Horses will have 12 deciduous incisors that enter between the first week of the birth to 6-8 months. By 1 they are all in-wear. At 2½ the adult incisors begin to erupt to replace all 12 milk teeth.


Pre-Molars 6,7 and 8 + Molars 9, 10 and 11.
These are the back six teeth running along the arcades known as "cheek teeth". The first 3 cheek teeth are pre-molars 6, 7 + 8. The three others are the molars 9, 10 +11. Most horses are born with all twelve pre-molars that come in-wear at about six months of age. Between the ages of 2½ - 3½ these deciduous teeth are replaced by adult pre-molars in-wear between 3-4 years of age. Horses do not have molar milk teeth, only molar adult teeth that beginning at 1 year and are all in-wear by 4 years of age. Because the molars do not have deciduous teeth preceding them. They may be referred to and known as occasional teeth.


All the lower teeth sit half a tooth width inside the edges of the uppers and the uppers are bigger and wider than the lowers.


Mastication consists of chewing in a circular motion on one side then moving to chew on the other side in the opposite direction as in a figure of eight. The food is pushed back along the tables of the teeth as its chewed. The more a horse can chew food, the easier it is for the digestive system to obtain goodness from the food to its highest nutritional value and get the optimum benefit from its food to maintain overall condition. For the molars to work to their best ability the edges need to be smoothed off and the teeth need to occlude (meet) properly. Occlusion can be prevented by common problems such as the incisors being too long therefore cheek teeth not meeting or a missing tooth resulting in the opposite tooth overgrowing and full occlusion being prevented.


Canines
The canines are the number 4 teeth and are also known as fighting teeth or fangs. They usually appear about 4½ years old in the bar area of the mouth where the bit sits between the incisors and pre-molars. Any horse can have canines but its quite rear for mares to have canines.


The canines it is believed, were used for fighting when horses where in the wild. If they are slow entering, the bit may press on the gum over the interrupted tooth. The skin may need to be broken to relieve pressure and pain. If canines grow too large or out at an angle they may need to be trimmed to prevent malocclusions or pressing into the tongue or cheek.


Wolf Teeth
These are vestigial premolar teeth usually appearing in front of the first pre-molar (6). They can erupt any time from 6 months of age and vary greatly in size and shape. Horses can have upto 4 wolf teeth though upper wolf teeth are most common. Interrupted wolf teeth are called blind wolf teeth and may stay blind or erupt. Once erupted they can cause a lot of discomfort to the horse, in which case they should be taken out. If they are not causing a problem there is no reason to extract them. Sometimes wolf teeth are referred to as "Hoaters" and some eventually cement themselves to the jawbone by pre-molars 6.