Do Cows Have Teeth? Estimating Cattle Age With Teeth (Video)

We’re sometimes asked, “Do cows have teeth?” and “Can they bite you?” Teeth are extremely important for a cow because they need to be able to chew grass so they can digest it. Cows do have teeth, but they can’t bite like humans can. Here’s why…

Do Cows Have Teeth?

Yes, cows have teeth. Interestingly, it’s by their teeth that you can estimate their age (more on that below).

Cattle first develop 20 temporary teeth, known also as deciduous teeth, milk teeth, or baby teeth. These temporary teeth eventually fall out and are replaced with 32 permanent adult teeth as they mature. Like humans, a cow’s temporary baby teeth are much smaller in size than the permanent teeth.

Cattle have three major teeth types: lower incisors, premolars, and molars.

Lower Incisors are toward the front of the mouth and only on the bottom jaw. The front of the upper jaw is a hard dental pad and there are no front upper teeth.
Premolars are next to the incisors on the sides and further towards the rear of the mouth.
Molars are at the back of the mouth, next to the premolars. The premolars and molars are together known as cheek teeth.

Estimating a Cow’s Age by Teeth

Cattle, like many animals, start life with baby or milk teeth. From about two years of age these teeth are replaced with permanent teeth. When estimating cattle age, we look at the number of incisor teeth, the type of teeth (“baby teeth” or permanent teeth), and tooth wear, and overall appearance of the teeth.

Since we’re a cow-calf farm, we usually know exactly when our cattle are born. Part of our cattle management system is to keep birth records (and medical records) for all our cattle so we know their exact age. However, there have been times that we have purchased cattle from other farms and their birth records are not as clear. In these instances, we can estimate their age looking at their teeth. This process is called dentition, which is the arrangement or condition of teeth in the mouth.

How Many Teeth Does a Cow Have?

Mature cattle have a total of 32 teeth and they’re three types of teeth: incisors, premolars, and molars. Only the incisors (bottom front teeth) are used to estimate their age.

Here’s a short video of Matt checking a cow’s teeth. (And don’t worry — this doesn’t hurt the cow at all!)

&amp;lt;/p>

The Importance of a Cow’s Teeth

Dental health for cattle is very important because their teeth allow them to consume the nutrients to maintain their body condition and weight. Broken, missing or heavily worn teeth make it hard for cattle to graze. This means they can quickly lose body weight compared to other cattle in the herd.

Can a cow bite you?

Cows can’t bite a person because they don’t have any front upper teeth.

When cattle are eating grass, they press their sharp bottom teeth against the top of their mouth, which is a hard palate. This then cuts the blades of grass so they can chew the grass.

Since there are no top teeth, a cow may “gum” you, but it won’t bite you.

Fun Facts About Cow Teeth

Mature cattle have 32 teeth, and there are three types: incisors, premolars, and molars.
The incisor teeth at the bottom front of the jaw are used to estimate a cow’s age. When estimating cattle by age, the farmer (or vet) looks at the front bottom row of teeth. Specifically, he is looking for the number of teeth, the type of teeth (“baby teeth” or permanent teeth), and the wear and overall appearance of the teeth.
Cattle start life with baby teeth. They get their first permanent teeth when they’re about 1 ½ – 2 years old.
Cows can’t bite because they don’t have top front teeth. They may “gum” you, but they can’t bite you.
Cattle do have molars on the upper and lower jaw, but their incisors are only the lower jaw.
As a cow gets older, their teeth show more wear. The tops of the teeth will lose their sharpness and continue to grind down.
Cows are ruminant animals and they regurgitate their food. This means that once grass is partially chewed, they swallow it, regurgitate it, chew it more and then swallow again. They repeat that process about 50 times so that their stomach can fully digest the plant fiber. Ruminant animals have a four-chambered stomach that lets them regurgitate their food so that they can get a maximum amount of nutrients from their food.
All ruminant animals have a tough dental pad on their top lip instead of top front teeth. Some of the animals that have this tough pad at the top of their mouths are cattle, sheep, goats, antelopes, giraffes, deer, and more.
George Washington’s Dentist made him dentures out of cow, hippopotamus, and walrus teeth

Join us!

Do you want more easy beef recipes? Sign-up for beef recipes to your inbox.

More Beef Tips and Recipes:

(Blog post updated in Feburary 2025. Originally published in 2016)

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions are our own and we only recommend products that we truly believe in.

We participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. See our disclosure policy for more details.