Dental disease is extremely common in horses and causes significant chronic pain that affects eating, behaviour, and quality of life. Regular specialist dental care is fundamental to horse welfare.
Horses with dental disease eat with difficulty or pain — a welfare problem that is both persistent and progressive. Sharp points cut the soft tissue of the mouth at every mouthful. Hooks and ramps change the jaw's range of motion, causing pain during eating and bit contact when ridden. Many horses show behaviour changes when ridden that are attributed to training problems but are actually pain responses to dental pathology. The conservative approach to equine dental care — annual rasping by a non-qualified person — frequently misses significant pathology that a qualified equine dental technician or vet with a speculum and sedation would identify.