Senior horse dental management presents distinct challenges as teeth wear down, gaps develop, and digestive efficiency declines, requiring specialized care approaches that maintain quality of life into old age.
Senior horse dental management is a welfare imperative because tooth loss and wear-related chewing problems directly cause weight loss, pain, and reduced quality of life. The failure to recognize dental decline in senior horses — attributing weight loss to old age rather than treatable dental disease — represents a significant welfare failure that delays intervention during years when appropriate management could substantially maintain comfort and function. Horses with poor dentition who are fed inappropriate feed develop chronic undernutrition that causes suffering preventable through dietary modification.