NOTES ON DENTISTRY. 535 



How to examine Molars. 



1st. Make the " acquaintance " of the horse, i. e. handle and convince 

 him that no harm is intended. 



2nd. Loosen or remove the head collar. The groom should hold the 

 horse. 



3rd. Open the mouth, and gently, but firmly, take hold of the free 

 portion of the tongue, turning it upwards but always keeping it inside 

 the mouth, as if about to give a ball. 



Then pass the free hand along the surface of the teeth, when any 

 sharpness of their edges, or any irregularity in the line of wear, or any 

 sign of caries will be at once perceptible. Especial care should be taken 

 to examine the posterior molars on either side, in which in many cases 

 the mischief lies. 



In all cases of examination of the molars each tooth should be exa- 

 mined individually. 



Signs of Disorder in the Molars. 



1st. The horse is observed to feed slowly, mouthing his food, and 

 probably holding his head on one side with streams of saliva trickling 

 from his mouth. This is popularly known as slobbering. In some cases 

 fairly masticated pellets of food are ejected from the mouth. This is 

 known as quidding. 



In advanced cases there is a very fcetid smell. Congestion of the 

 blood-vessels of the mucous membrane of the mouth, commonly known 

 as lampas, is also present. The fourth, fifth, and sixth molars are deve- 

 loped up between three and four years old, and therefore between these 

 periods there is a special liability to an accumulation of partially chewed 

 food between them, which rapidly becomes foetid. 



1067. Causes of Quidding. 



The ejection of partially masticated food arises from several causes, 

 i. e. from impaction of food between the molars, from defective or de- 

 formed teeth, from sore throat or abscesses in the mouth. It may also 

 arise from causes apart from disease of the teeth, e. g. barbed seed in 

 hay or grass will produce a painful disease of the membrane and, as a 

 result, quidding. 



1068. DEFORMITIES. 



It would be idle to attempt a description of the various freaks of 

 nature, which must be dealt with as they arise. Some of them are 

 capable of being relieved by surgical aid or by extraction. Occasionally 

 they render the animal useless on account of the loss of condition, which 

 they entail by mechanical interference with mastication. 



