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
Horse teeth do normally only have one or two, and these may be only partially erupted. Between 13 and 32% of horses, split equally between male and female, also have wolf teeth, which are not related to canine teeth, but are vestigial premolars. Wolf teeth are more common on the upper jaw, and can present a problem for horses in work, as they can interfere with the bit. They may also make it difficult during equine dentistry work to rasp the second premolar, and are frequently removed. Horses are diphyodontous, erupting a set of first deciduous teeth (also known as milk, temporary,