Dental disease causes chronic pain and feeding difficulty in horses; regular dental examination and floating (rasping) by qualified equine dental technicians is essential preventive care.
Equine dental welfare is chronically neglected because horses mask dental pain effectively and continue to eat despite significant discomfort. The sharp enamel points that develop on cheek teeth cause continuous laceration of cheek and tongue tissue during mastication - pain that persists for every meal without treatment. Annual dental examination and floating addresses this preventable welfare problem before it causes detectable weight loss or behavioral problems. The stoic nature of horses under dental pain means owners often have no indication of the problem until weight loss or obvious behavior change occurs, by which time the welfare deficit has been sustained for months.