Equine dentistry is evolving from just floating to performance dentistry.  Interest of horse owners, trainers, and veterinarians have furthered studies on how the mouth functions and how dental problems affect performance.  Simply removing sharp molar points may not eliminate all the sources of oral pain.  Horses experiencing oral pain will not perform to their full ability.

Floating is done to make the surface of the horse's tooth level or smooth.  This is accomplished by the removal of sharp points on the outer edge of upper molars and inner edge of lower molars.

Performance Dentistry includes a floating, comprehensive oral examination, identification and correction of incisor and molar malocclusions, and tooth shaping.  Tooth shaping of certain molars to prevent soft tissue damage, which cause oral pain, is an important part of performance dentistry.

Equine Dental Anatomy

• Adult horses usually have 42 teeth, but may have up to 44
• Six upper and lower premolars
• Six upper and lower molars
• Two wolf teeth, but may have up to 4
• Four canine teeth usually in stallions only
• Six upper and lower incisors (front teeth)

Premolars and molars as a group are called cheek teeth or molars.
Wolf teeth are small, vestigial teeth usually found just in front of the upper second premolars; however, they are sometimes found in front of the lower second premolars. Wolf teeth are the first premolars. They are not functional as grinding teeth. They are usually removed from horses that are on a bit, because they cause pain.
Canine teeth erupt when the horse is 4 or 5 years old.  Most mares do not usually have canine teeth.  If canine teeth are present, they are very small and resemble wolf teeth.  Canine teeth are usually one to 1.5 inches behind the corner incisor.
Incisors are designed to bite off forage, after which the tongue moves forage back to the molars.  The molars crush and grind forage into small pieces, usually 1/4 to 3/8 inches long, so digestion will be complete.  The forage gets only one trip through the mouth and it has to be minced adequately, otherwise absorption of nutrients is diminished.

Undalation is the natural, uniform wave in the chewing surface of the molars.  Each molar has two waves. The undulations go from side to side of the tooth. This allows for better food grinding.

Transverse Ridges are short ridges with rounded tops in the molars.

Tooth Growth
All the baby teeth are replaced with permanent ones between the ages of 2-1/2 and 4-1/2 years old.  From the age of 1 year and upwards, the young horse will also get 12 new additional cheek teeth, possibly also 4 canine teeth (mostly in stallions and geldings) and from 0-4 wolf teeth.