DENTITION OP THE HORSE. 
Tabulated by John Gorham, M.R.C.S., Tunbridge. 
The study of the order and time of eruption of the teeth, the dentition as it is called, in the Horse, is important, because, as is well known that, 
by examining the mouth, the Veterinary Surgeon is enabled to arrive at definite conclusions as to the age of this animal. It is manifest, 
however, that if such conclusions are to prove correct, the exact age of the horse must in all cases have been first determined, and then the 
number and kind of teeth contained in the mouth at that age, carefully registering age and teeth in a sufficiently large number of well- 
attested examples. Such examples are contained aud made use of in books, but they have always appeared to the author to require 
tabulating to make them really efficient in practice, inasmuch as the shedding of the temporary and the cutting of the permanent are so 
intricately interwoven, that it requires some care to pick them out and locate them in their proper order, and when this is done, a good 
memory to retain them. On consulting the most recent books on the subject the author has found it most conducive to the recollection of 
the facts contained therein to reduce them, therefore, to a tabulated form ; indeed, it is almost impossible without such assistance to retain 
them in one’s mind so that they shall become at all useful in practice. The contents of this Table have been chiefly drawn from Mr. Youatt’s 
excellent work on this subject, with the occasional addition of the word “ temporary” where this seemed required, in order to keep the 
distinction between the two kinds of teeth, temporary and permanent, prominently before the reader. The formula) are those commonly 
employed in comparative anatomy, and have been adopted by the author in his manual on the ‘ Teeth of the Human Subject,’ for while such 
formula* have been hitherto used chiefly to distinguish the teeth of one group of animals from those of another, they are not the less admirably 
adapted to indicate the changes which are effected in the teeth of one and the same animal during the complicated processes of the first and 
second dentition. 
AGE. 
NAMES OF TEETH AND NUMBER CUT 
AT EACH AGE. 
DENTAL FORMULA, OR NUMBER FOUND IN THE MOUTH AT EACH AGE. 
Birth 
Temporary molars j|, front tem- 
porary incisors 
Temporary molars !p|, front temporary incisors yyy = 16. 
6 weeks. 
Lateral temporary incisors yyy. 
Temporary molars temporary front incisors y^y, temporary lateral 1 
incisors ^ =: 20. 
6 months. 
Corner milk teeth, or temporary 
incisors 
Temporary molars y— j, temporary front incisors y^y, temporary lateral 
incisors ^ , corner milk teeth y^y =: 24. 
9 months. 
— . 
Corner temporary incisors, edges do not meet. 
1 year. 
Permanent molars y— j (4th mo- 
lars in situation.) 
Temporary molars permanent molars yj^j, front temporary inci- 
sors y— y, lateral temporary incisors y — y, corner temporary incisors 
.-£* = 28. 
18 months. 
Permanent molars y^ (5th mo- 
lars in situation). 
Temporary molars, £|; permanent molars, 4th, ; permanent 
molars, 5th, £y ; front temporary incisors, £y ; lateral tempo- 
rary incisors, yry corner temporary incisors, £y = 32. 
2 years. 
— 
Incisors Bhow considerable wear. 
3 years. 
Central permanent incisors or 
horse teeth 
Temporary molars, ; permanent molars, 4th, y^y ; permanent 
molars, 5th, £y ; central permanent incisors, y5y ; lateral tem- 
porary incisors, £y ; corner temporary incisors, £y = 32. 
hater in 3rd year. 
Permanent molars, 1st and 2nd, 
Third temporary molars, £y ; permanent molars, 1st and 2nd, £y ; 
permanent molars, 4tli, £y ; permanent molars, 5th, £y ; central 
permanent incisors, £y ; lateral temporary incisors, yyy ; corner 
temporary incisors, — = 32. 
3 years off. 
J\, ... i_i I 
permanent molars, 4th, j^y ; permanent molars, 5th, ^ ; central 
permanent incisors, y^y ; lateral permanent incisors, y5y ; corner 
temporary incisors, £y = 32. 
Rising 4. 
— 
Edges of permanent lateral incisors do not meet. 
4 years. 
Permanent molars, 6th, ; per- 
manent molars, 3rd, ; cus- 
pids or tush teeth, yEy. * 
Permanent molars, 1st, y— y ; permanent molars, 2nd, ; permanent 
molars, 3rd, yyy ; permanent molars, 4th, y^y ; permanent molars, j 
6th, yyy ; permanent molars, 6th, yyy ; central permanent in- 
cisors, yyy ; lateral permanent incisors, y — y ; corner temporary 1 
incisors, y5y ; cuspids or tush teeth, £y = 38. 
Rising 5. 
Permanent comer incisors y— y. 
Permanent molars, 1st, £y ; permanent molars, 2nd, £y ; permanent { 
molars, 3rd, £y ; permanent molars, 4th, ^ ; permanent molars, | 
5th, y^y; permanent molars, 6th, £y; central permanent in- ! 
cisors, y5y ; lateral permanent incisors, £y ; corner permanent 
incisors, y^y ; cuspids or tush teeth, £[ = 40. 
1 5 years. 
— 
Permanent incisors |y§, tush £y,* permanent molars = 40. 
* From 2nd or 3rd year to the 8th, very irregular. 
Note. — Little nodes of tooth -like substance, having minute fangs, and inserted immediately anterior to the first molars of the upper, rarely 
of the lower jaw, are called wolfs teeth. 
