40 years young

I was asked to inspect a little Shetland pony mare 40 years of age.
Having inspected the poor, little thing I was close to tears. The thought of this very cute little mare having at least 30 (!) years of chronic dental pain tore at my heart.

She was missing a few teeth already, as to be expected at that age, and the lack of an antagonistic tooth allowed the first premolar on both sides of the upper jaw to become so long that she bites her lower jaw constantly.
the lower jaw bone is stressed so much by this, that it has receded that much that it isn't far off breaking!
You can see a similar situation on the teeth of the lower jaw, if you follow the link.
Please, note how much bone has receded already in this case, too.
The rest of the mouth was in a similar bad state and she has only survived this long because she has very caring owners, that stopped her from starving by feeding her mash. This is the only food left, she is able to process.
If they had known about proper dental treatment and that ALL horses need a yearly treatment, they would have been able and would have prevented 30 years of pain for this lovely, little grandma.