Do All Wolf Teeth Need Removing?

There is a thought that all wolf teeth must be removed in any riding/driving horse.  If a wolf tooth is of normal position and size, they may never cause issues for the horse. 

Its very common to see older horses with normal wolf teeth in place with no history of bitting problems.

If the wolf teeth are very large, displaced, unerupted or loose, they may cause bitting issues and should be extracted.  This show jumping mare (in the photo above) was becoming increasingly resentful to right reign contact and its easy to see why. The picture above shows a rostral (forward) displaced wolf tooth creating painful bit contact, the surrounding gum was bleeding on exam.  Removal of the tooth resulted in resolution of the contact issues.

Wolf tooth extraction should be performed in a sedated horse with the use of local anaesthetic just as our own dentists would do for us. Tooth removal is a painful process.