Horse Dental Care: Why Floating Matters & Signs of Problems

By Sarah Bennett, Certified Animal Nutritionist

Of all the routine health procedures a horse owner must manage, dental care is among the most frequently underestimated. Unlike dogs and cats, whose teeth stop growing early in life, horses have hypsodont teeth — teeth that erupt continuously throughout most of their lives, slowly wearing down against opposing surfaces as the horse chews. This remarkable biological adaptation evolved for a life of grazing up to 18 hours a day on abrasive grasses. In domestic horses, with their managed diets, shorter grazing periods, and use of bits and headcollars, the system can go wrong in ways that cause significant pain and health deterioration. Understanding why regular dental maintenance is not optional — it is essential — is the first step to protecting your horse's long-term wellbeing.

How Horse Teeth Are Different: The Basics Every Owner Should Know

Horse teeth are fundamentally different from those of companion animals, which is why equine dentistry is a distinct specialism. A horse's cheek teeth (premolars and molars) are tall, deeply rooted columns — in a young adult horse, the reserve crown buried in the jaw can be 8–10 cm in length. As the horse ages, this reserve crown gradually erupts from the gum and is worn away by chewing. By the time a horse reaches its late twenties, it may have very little tooth surface remaining, which is one reason elderly horses often struggle to process hay and hard feed.

The chewing motion of horses is a wide, lateral grinding movement — quite unlike the vertical chomp of a dog. This lateral motion, combined with the fact that the upper jaw is slightly wider than the lower, means that the outer edges of the upper cheek teeth and the inner edges of the lower cheek teeth are never properly worn. Over months and years, these unworn edges develop into sharp enamel points. Left untreated, these points lacerate the cheeks and tongue with every mouthful, causing chronic pain and making eating progressively harder.

What Is Floating — and Why Does Your Horse Need It?

Floating is the term for dental rasping — the filing down of sharp points and hooks on the horse's teeth using specialised instruments called floats. Manual floats are long-handled metal rasps; modern equine dental practice also uses motorised rotary equipment that makes the process faster and more precise.

Beyond simple sharp points, an experienced equine dentist or vet will check for and address:

• Hooks: When teeth are not perfectly aligned, one tooth may overhang its opposite, creating a hook — a protruding ledge of enamel that can be several centimetres long in neglected cases and causes severe restriction of jaw movement.
• Ramps: A milder form of overgrowth where a tooth slopes rather than hooks.
• Wave mouth: A rippling unevenness across the grinding surface, common in older horses.
• Steps: Extreme height differences between adjacent teeth, often caused by the loss of an opposing tooth.
• Wolf teeth: Small vestigial premolars that sit just in front of the first cheek teeth. In horses ridden with a bit, wolf teeth can cause significant bit interference and pain. They are routinely extracted at the first dental exam in young horses.

The procedure typically requires mild sedation administered by an equine vet, allowing the horse's mouth to be held open with a speculum while the dentist works methodically across all cheek teeth. The process takes 20–40 minutes in a straightforward case.

Signs Your Horse May Have a Dental Problem

Because horses cannot tell us they are in pain, dental problems often go undetected until they are advanced. Knowing what to look for can save your horse months of unnecessary suffering and prevent knock-on health consequences.

Quidding is one of the most recognisable signs: the horse drops partially chewed balls of food — usually hay or haylage — from its mouth. This happens because sharp points or hooks make it painful to complete the chewing cycle, so the horse spits out partially processed food. You may notice these discarded "quids" around the stable or hay rack.

Weight loss despite an adequate diet is a significant warning sign. If a horse cannot chew properly, it cannot extract adequate nutrition from its food. Owners often attribute gradual weight loss in older horses to "just getting old" when in fact a dental float would dramatically improve condition.

Head tilting while eating — where the horse twists its head to one side to favour a more comfortable area of the mouth — is a strong indicator of uneven dental wear or a one-sided problem. Watch your horse eating hay from the floor to observe natural head position.

Bad breath (halitosis) from the mouth, particularly a sweet or fetid odour, can indicate food packing in dental gaps, a decaying tooth, or periodontal disease. This warrants prompt attention.

Resistance to the bit — including head shaking, leaning on one rein, refusing to accept contact, or sudden behavioural changes under saddle — is frequently blamed on training or tack issues when the true cause is dental pain. If bit-related resistance appears suddenly or persistently, dental examination should be the first port of call, not additional schooling.

Nasal discharge from one nostril can, in some cases, point to infection of the upper cheek tooth roots, which sit in close proximity to the sinus cavities. This is a veterinary emergency requiring prompt equine vet assessment.

Who Should Perform Equine Dental Work?

This point bears emphasis: equine dentistry should only be performed by a qualified equine dental technician (EDT) working within their scope of practice, or by an equine veterinarian. A general small animal vet who is not trained in equine dentistry does not have the anatomical knowledge, equipment, or expertise to properly assess or treat a horse's mouth. In many countries, sedation for dental procedures — which is strongly recommended for thorough assessment — can only legally be administered by a qualified veterinarian.

Look for equine dental technicians registered with a recognised professional body such as the British Association of Equine Dental Technicians (BAEDT) or equivalent in your country. Ideally, your EDT should work alongside your equine vet so that sedation, prescriptions, and any advanced interventions (such as tooth extraction) can be handled appropriately.

Supporting Dental Health Between Appointments

While no supplement replaces physical floating, nutritional support can help maintain the health of the structures surrounding the teeth. Adequate dietary silicon (found naturally in hay and grass) supports normal tooth wear. Vitamin D and calcium are critical for bone density in the jaw. In older horses or those with compromised chewing ability, ensuring feed is appropriately processed — soaked hay cubes, soft chaff, or mashes — reduces the risk of choke and improves nutrient absorption.

Probiotic and digestive support supplements can help horses who have lost weight due to prolonged dental issues, supporting gut microbiome recovery as chewing ability improves following dental treatment.

The Cost of Neglect

Skipping annual dental checks is a false economy. The cost of treating an advanced dental problem — extracted teeth, sinus surgery, or prolonged veterinary care for a horse that has lost significant body condition — vastly exceeds the cost of routine annual floating. More importantly, horses with unmanaged dental disease live with chronic, often severe pain that affects every aspect of their lives: eating, ridden work, and social behaviour.

References

1. Carmalt JL. Evidence-based equine dentistry: preventive medicine. Veterinary Clinics of North America: Equine Practice. 2009;25(1):173–193. PMID: 19303561
2. Dixon PM, Dacre I. A review of equine dental disorders. The Veterinary Journal. 2005;169(2):165–187. PMID: 15727905

Written by Sarah Bennett, Certified Animal Nutritionist