Equines are both
heterodontous and diphyodontous, which means that they have teeth in more than one shape (there are up to five shapes of tooth in a horse's mouth), and have two successive sets of teeth, the deciduous ("baby teeth") and permanent sets.The adult horse usually has
36-42 teeth but can have up to 44 teeth as a mature 5 year old. The front teeth (incisors) are used to grip and cut the grass. The back or cheek teeth (premolars and molars) are used to grind up the food.The horse’s tooth is made up of four layers with different characteristics:
pulp, dentin, enamel, and cementum The pulp is the innermost layer and contains vital parts such as nerves and blood supply. This structure is soft and sensitive, and so it is protected by the outer layers. Dentin is the next layer and makes up most of the tooth structure.
The equine tooth—like that of other animal and human species—is comprised of four layers: pulp, dentin, enamel, and cementum. The innermost layer, the pulp is “basically the heart and brain of the tooth,” Whittle said.
Horse's teeth are made up of vertical "columns" of three different materials, only one of which is
enamel. The other two materials, dentin and cementum, are not as hard. This configuration is actually designed to allow the horse's teeth to slowly wear away as they grind their coarse diet of plant roughage.
