DISEASED on IRREGULAR TEETH. 121 



Diseased or Irregular Teeth, 



Sometimes the teeth of a horse present irregulari- 

 ties. Some of the teeth are too long, or become rag- 

 ged. As a consequence, the tongue or cheeks are 

 wounded, and the horse eats imperfectly, has pain, 

 drops or " quids " his food. Whenever this condition 

 is found, if the difficulty does not mend itself, the long 

 teeth should be extracted if loose, or be filed down, 

 and the points of the ragged teeth smoothed off. 



Decayed teeth produce similar symptoms. In ad- 

 dition, a bad smell exudes from the mouth ; stringy 

 saliva flows away in large quantities, and the eyes 

 may be inflamed. If allowed to remain, the fang 

 may become diseased, the socket and gum inflame, 

 an abscess form, and a portion of the jaw-bone may 

 die. If in the upper jaw, the matter may burst into 

 the nose and be discharged. It is of bad smell and 

 color, and has been mistaken for nasal gleet and 

 glanders. 



Examine carefully with the finger, and by feeling 

 along the jaw, see if there is any swelling or inden- 

 tation, or if there is any old stub or loosened tooth, a 

 milk tooth that has been pushed one side, or down, 

 or is loose, making the gum inflamed or painful and 

 preventing the animal properly eating his food, if 

 so remove the stub or loose tooth or file off the rag- 

 ged portion, so that the mouth may become sound 

 and healthy. Sometimes a thick unhealthy discharge 

 from the nostrils has been mistaken for glanders, 

 when the real difficulty was from diseased teeth. 



