With the current surge in interest in equine dentistry, more than a few myths have crept into popular belief. A few these include:

1. Wolf teeth have no nerves! The first premolar or wolf tooth is a single rooted tooth situated just in front of the first cheek tooth. Not all horses develop these, but most will have upper wolf teeth. We routinely extract them to ensure comfort on the bit. Although small, wolf teeth definitely have a nerve supply and a periodontal membrane. In this day and age, there is no excuse at all to do any extraction in a horse without the use of adequate and effective analgesia!  Furthermore, we highly recommend tetanus prophylaxis following any extraction.
2. Horses teeth grow for life! Horses are not big rabbits, and have a limited supply of reserve crown.
3. Cheek teeth should be smooth! The ridging across the cheek teeth in horses is normal and essential for efficient grinding of plant material. Only where these ridges are pathologically excessive should they be touched at all. 
4. The incisor teeth should be reduced!  Please do not let anyone touch your horse's incisors unless you are convinced they know what they're doing. There appears to be a trend towards grinding down incisors in the misguided belief that this will in some obscure way benefit the horse. Less than two percent of horses and almost none under the age of twelve need any work on their incisor teeth. You can do huge damage where these are unnecessarily reduced, not only through exposure of the sensitive tooth pulp but also by placing massive unnatural stress on the cheek teeth.
5. Young horses' front teeth should be white and shiny! The equine tooth has an outer layer of cementum. This stains green or brown and is quite normal! As the animal ages, this layer will be worn away and the enamel exposed. Do not let anyone rasp or grind away normal cementum as this is an integral part of the tooth.
6. A two-minute blind rasp is a thorough dental!  Any dental treatment must comprise a complete visual and tactile examination of the teeth and oral cavity. In our opinion, the best way to do this is with the horse sedated in a controlled environment. We believe that a thorough knowledge of equine physiology, anatomy, pharmacology, pathology and medicine is a prerequisite for those wanting to perform equine dentistry. The old adage "first do no harm" is appropriate.

Horses have "hypsodont" teeth - i.e. teeth that continue to erupt throughout their lifetime. A young adult horse has cheek teeth eight to nine centimetres long! Most of this "reserve crown" is embedded in the bones of the mandible or maxilla with the teeth gradually erupting at a rate of about three to four millimetres per year. As the teeth erupt, they are worn down by grinding against the opposite teeth.  Sharp enamel points commonly occur on the outer edge of the upper cheek teeth and the inside edge of the lower cheek teeth.

One of the major advances in equine veterinary dentistry is the use of ‘visual dentistry.' We now routinely sedate horses for dental procedures and use a full mouth gag and light. This allows us to do a complete examination and treatment of ALL the teeth including the back molars. Having its mouth held wide open is not a natural position for a horse, but, realistically, we cannot perform proper dental work with a partly closed mouth. Sedation lets us use a mouth gag without upsetting the animal. This is an enormous and essential advantage. Without sedation, the horse may experience discomfort and stress and the quality of the dental work performed may be severely compromised.

As well as using traditional hand floats, we now utilise a powerfloat. This is a motorised rotary equine dental float specifically designed and engineered for equine veterinary dentistry.

The advantages of using the powerfloat system and visual dentistry include:

• Accurate assessment and correction of dental abnormalities. Both the veterinarian and owner can observe the entire process.
• Safe and less stressful, both for the horse and veterinarian. The design of the powerfloat ensures that the rotating abrasive disc cannot injure the horse's gums, lips or tongue.
• Effective and efficient, this system allows the veterinarian to examine and appraise the status of the work with relative ease.