Summary Equine odontoclastic tooth resorption and hypercementosis (EOTRH) is a progressive and painful disease syndrome that affects aged horses. It affects incisor, canine and infrequently cheek teeth, and is characterised by gingival inflammation, oedema and recession, calculus deposition, feed accumulation, subgingival swellings with or without associated draining tracts, bulbous enlargement of teeth, tooth mobility, associated periodontal disease, tooth fracture and/or tooth loss. The aetiology of EOTRH is likely to be multi‐factorial. However, histopathological findings consistently suggest an aetiological contribution of initial biomechanical stresses and strains, followed by secondary involvement of micro‐organisms. Diagnosis is based on clinical presentation, age and radiographic changes including lytic changes, widening or loss of the periodontal ligament, hypercementosis, tooth fracture and alveolar bone loss. Treatment of EOTRH is not currently possible, but the condition can be managed to some degree, quite successfully for many years in some cases. However, the disease is progressive and invariably results in extraction of the tooth or teeth involved. The prognosis is most probably guarded at best and poor in most cases; however, complete removal of affected teeth carries a good prognosis for an improved quality of life in the short to medium term.

Reasons for performing study The maxillary first premolar (wolf tooth) is present in a significant proportion (13–40%) of horses and is frequently extracted. The size of these teeth has been reported to vary but the authors are not aware of published descriptions of the dimensions of these teeth. Objectives To measure the dimensions of a sample of equine first premolar teeth and to seek correlations between dimensions of the crown and the root. Study design A retrospective descriptive study. Methods Calipers were used to measure total length, root length, crown height, and crown width of 65 first premolar teeth extracted in their entirety from 2 populations of horses (UK population: n = 30, USA population: n = 35). Most of the variables were not normally distributed so nonparametric statistics (Spearman correlation coefficients) were used to describe tooth size and seek correlations between different measurements. Results Dimensions expressed as median (range) were total length: 21 (12–34) mm; root length: 13.2 (0–19.6) mm; crown height 7 (2–20) mm; and crown width 7 (2.6–16) mm. Root length was longer than crown height in 61/65 teeth. Total length was poorly correlated with crown height (r = 0.443) but had a good correlation with root length (r = 0.799). Crown height and crown width were poorly correlated with root length (r = ‐0.093 and r = 0.463), respectively. Conclusions The dimensions of 65 first premolar teeth indicate that the root is usually longer than the crown but that the dimensions of the clinical crown of the tooth do not provide a good estimate of the length of the root. Ethical animal research: Ethical committee oversight not currently required by this congress: material was collected as part of clinical procedures. Explicit owner informed consent for participation in this study was not stated. Sources of funding: None. Competing interests: None.

Summary The equine first premolar or ‘wolf tooth’ (Triadan 05) is a normal vestigial tooth, which is often absent, but when present most commonly lies rostral to the second maxillary premolar (Triadan 06). The routine extraction of wolf teeth has been performed historically and is contentious, but clinically indicated in some instances. This review article aims to summarise concisely the limited peer reviewed literature on wolf teeth and to describe the practice of their extraction. Extraction is usually performed in the standing sedated horse, and complications are avoided with good surgical planning, analgesia and instrumentation.

Having recently completed a certificate in equine dentistry, Sam Luis Hole attended BEVA's advanced dentistry course for veterinary surgeons, a two‐day course organised by Henry Tremaine and held at the University of Bristol. The course concluded on the third day with an international equine dentistry research forum, at which Sam presented some current research.

Sam Luis Hole has spent over 15 years in the pursuit of providing better oral health care for horses, via dental training in the UK and the USA. He was awarded the RCVS certificate in advanced veterinary practice (CertAVP) for equine dentistry, the first such certificate to be awarded by the RCVS and the first postgraduate qualification in equine veterinary dentistry in the UK.