Are Teeth An Accurate Measure Of Age In Horses? by Geoff Tucker, DVM.

Welcome to The Horse’s Advocate Podcast episode 70 “Are Teeth An Accurate Measure Of Age In Horses?” by Geoff Tucker, DVM. Recorded on September 21, 2022

In 1979, I memorized the standard chart for aging the horse using the ware patterns of the teeth over time. The incisors were used rather than the cheek teeth because they were readily available by lifting the lips. The recorded features included the cups, dental star, and Galvayne's Groove. Horse owners and buyers used the chart for maybe a century, but in the 1980s, many equine dentists started to describe the incisors' bite. They noticed uneven wear patterns representing them as a smile, a frown, a diagonal, or a V-shape.

In 1983, I floated my first horse, and since, I have floated over 77,000 horses. I officially aged horses many times. I started to notice that if horses wore the incisors unevenly, the horse could be one age when viewed from the left side and another age when viewed from the right. The old aging chart needed fixing.

Several years ago, I asked owners with horses of verified age (papers or lip tattoos) to allow me to photograph the incisors. I imaged the left and right lateral, the straight-on, and the open mouth of the lower occlusal surface views. My goal within the project's time constraints was to get ten random horses of every age between 2 years and 30+ years. I could do this in most age groups, while I could only find one or two verified horses in other age groups. This podcast describes my findings.

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