DISEASES OF THE TEETH, MOUTH, 

 LIPS, ETC. 



DECAY OR CARIES OF THE TEETH 



Is rare, especially in young horses. The back teeth or 

 molars suffer more than the front teeth (incisors). They 

 are sometimes broken by stones or other hard substances 

 in the food. A severe blow over their roots sometimes 

 causes caries and the ultimate loss of the tooth. It is 

 possible to stop decay, especially of the front teeth, by 

 filling. 



Care of the teeth is a matter of great importance. Mas- 

 tication of the food is indispensable to digestion, and di- 

 gestion to health. Owing to the fact that horses' teeth 

 (except the tushes, which are practically useless), grow 

 throughout life — the growth counteracting the wear and 

 the wear the growth — sharp and dangerous projections 

 sometimes cause lacerations. When the teeth meet in 

 perfect apposition— grinding surface to grinding surface — 

 the wear is regular ; when they do not, the unworn parts 

 will soon project. When they cause laceration of the cheek 

 or tongue, file them, but do not interfere with the natural 

 slant of the tables (crown or grinding surfaces). The 

 natural slant must be preserved, or mastication cannot be 

 properly performed. The molar teeth of the horse are in 

 this respect the reverse of human teeth. 



Supernumerary teeth and dental cysts require surgical 

 skill. The so-called wolf teeth (really remnant teeth, for 

 they are the remains of what were once functionally de- 

 veloped teeth), that appear in front of the first upper 



