Horses who have comfortable mouths work better in the bridle, so many frustrating performance problems can be eliminated. Most importantly, comprehensive dental care is essential to digestive health, preventing many types of colic, choke and chronic weight loss. Many question the need for prophylactic and even restorative dental care, since wild horses have survived for centuries without it. The answer is easily understood when one examines the domestic horse's diet. Wild horses graze 24 hours per day on coarse grass.
Domestic horses derive the majority of their ration from hays and grains.
The teeth of the horse are designed to tear and grind these grasses, and they wear down quickly. The upper jaw is 30 percent winder than the lower jaw, and the horse chews from side to side. As a result, the outer portion of the upper cheek teeth and the inner portion of the lower cheek teeth, are not worn adequately. This usually occurs in the second and third year, and is very common. The typical result of these retained teeth is an uneven surface developing along the surface of several cheek teeth in a row, a condition called wave mouth or step mouth.