1. How old are we??

2. Examination of teeth can be used to determine the age of the animal.
Knowing eruption (when the teeth come in) and wear patterns can let you estimate the age.
Wear patterns are sometimes not accurate because diet, behavior, environment can all impact the wear patterns.
The only accurate way to determine age is knowing the birthday.

3. Teeth can wear down at different rates, so usually you will say an animals mouth appears to be ? Years old, rather than saying the animal is ? Years old.

4. Domestic animals have two sets of teeth.
Deciduous, or baby teeth: these will fall out
Adult teeth, these are permanent.
How old am I??

5. Tooth Emergence Temporary Teeth (Baby Teeth)
Temporary pincers: Birth - 10 days
Temporary intermediates: 4 – 6 weeks
Temporary corners: 6– 10 months

6. Tooth Emergence Permanent Teeth
6 years old
Canine teeth appear: 4-5 years
Permanent corners: 4 ½ years
Permanent intermediates: 3 ½ years
Permanent pincers: 2 ½ years

7. Tooth Wear As horses age, “caps” disappear from incisors
15 years old
6 years old
As horses age, teeth become more triangular-shaped

8. After 8 years age becomes largely a speculation.
After the age of 10, we can use Galvayne’s groove to better determine age

9. Usually appears around the age of 10 years.
Galvayne’s Groove
A mark on the upper corner incisors that appears and disappears in a predictable pattern as horses age
Usually appears around the age of 10 years.

10. Groove is usually half way down at age 15
Galvayne’s Groove
A mark on the upper corner incisors that appears and disappears in a predictable pattern as horses age
Groove is usually half way down at age 15

11. By age 20 the groove usually extends the full length of the tooth
Galvayne’s Groove
A mark on the upper corner incisors that appears and disappears in a predictable pattern as horses age
By age 20 the groove usually extends the full length of the tooth

12. Groove begins to recede around age 21
Galvayne’s Groove
A mark on the upper corner incisors that appears and disappears in a predictable pattern as horses age
Groove begins to recede around age 21

13. Galvayne’s Groove
A mark on the upper corner incisors that appears and disappears in a predictable pattern as horses age
Groove is halfway gone by age 25 and disappears completely around age 30.

14. This horse has the central incisors, the intermediate incisors and the corner incisors are beginning to erupt.
How old is this horse?

15. Did you guess 8 months to a year???

16. Which horse is older? Why did you give that answer?
Aging Using Teeth
Which horse is older? Why did you give that answer? A B

17. Determine the most likely age for the following horse
Aging Using Teeth
Determine the most likely age for the following horse
7 years
14 years
21 years
28 years
Wear – No Cups

18. Determine the most likely age for the following horse
Aging Using Teeth
Determine the most likely age for the following horse
7 years
14 years
21 years
28 years
Wear – No Cups

19. Aging cattle

21. When estimating the age of cattle, you must use the lower incisors because they don’t have upper incisors. They have an upper cartilage pad instead.

22. How old am I??

23. All of my permanent incisors are in… How old am I??

27. Cats and dogs will have all of their adult teeth by 6 months of age.
After the adult teeth have erupted, it is very difficult to tell age due to variations in bacterial growth and breed differences.