Horse teeth wild forebears never faced. Typical wear patterns in horses include: A horse's incisors, premolars, and molars, once fully developed, continue to erupt as the grinding surface is worn down through chewing. A young adult horse's teeth are typically 4.5–5 inches long, but the majority of the crown remaining below the gumline in the dental socket. The rest of the tooth slowly emerges from the jaw, erupting about 1/8" each year, as the horse ages. When the animal reaches old age, the crowns of the teeth are very short and the teeth are often lost altogether. Very old horses, if lacking
Permanent teeth lost or shed. The first of the permanent teeth to erupt are the permanent first molars, right behind the last 'milk' molars of the primary dentition. These first permanent molars are important for the correct development of a permanent dentition. Up to the age of thirteen years, twenty-eight of the thirty-two permanent teeth will appear. The full permanent dentition is completed much later during the permanent dentition period. The four last permanent teeth, the third molars, usually appear between the ages of 17 and 25 years; they are considered wisdom teeth. It is possible to have extra, or "supernumerary," teeth.