Taking Old Dobbin to the Dentist 



Horse-dentistry is not one of the overcrowded 

 professions. It is not a calling for weakHngs 



First, he is fastened securely by 

 straps running from both sides 

 of the stable to his head and 

 also from the roof of the stall, so 

 that he cannot move his head 

 sideways or up and down. The 

 straps are connected with a 

 heavy rubber harness that slips 

 loosely over the jaws of the 

 horse. 



Not being gifted with 

 the power of speech, the 

 horse cannot tell the 

 dentist which particular 

 tooth is troublesome. 

 It is therefore necessary 

 for the dentist to locate 

 the aching tooth for him- 

 self. This is not so diffi- 

 cult as it may seem. 

 The dentist locates the 

 troublesome tooth either 

 by the presence of an ab- 

 scess or, if there is none, 

 by means of an imple- 

 ment called a "float." 

 With the float, which is 

 but a long-handled file, 

 the dentist feels along the 

 teeth until his sense of 

 touch tells him he is in 

 contact with a loose tooth. 

 That is the tooth to be 

 removed. Extraction is about the only 

 remedy when a horse has the toothache. 

 There is no such thing possible as filling 

 a horse's decayed tooth. 



The horse, suspicious and nervous as 

 soon as he feels the gripping forceps, in- 

 voluntarily helps the operation l)y flinging 

 up his head. He almost pulls the tooth 

 himself. The difficult part of the opera- 

 tion for the dentist is to hold the tooth 

 firmly in the forceps and help with a 

 counter pull. Most of the dental trouble 

 of a horse occurs with the upper teeth 

 so that it is seldom necessary to extract 

 a lower one. 



If a horse has lost a 

 tooth in one jaw, the 

 one opposite grows 

 very long because 

 nothing grinds it 

 off. The dentist 

 trims off long teeth 

 with the nippers 



Horses as a rule 

 prove themselves 

 docile. Here the 

 operator is spraying 

 out the horse's 

 mouth in order to 

 prevent the for- 

 mation of cavities 



PHILADELPHIA has a dental office 

 for horses. You, or rather the 

 horse in company with you, enter 

 the office through a special doorway and 

 are ushered into the waiting room. Here 

 you may rest and improve your mind with 

 the out-of-date literature usually found 

 in dental establishments, while your 

 equine friend is taken to an operating 

 room in the back. 



The operating department consists of a 

 number of stalls, well padded and car- 

 peted with hay, so that the horse runs no 

 risk of injury should he '•ear during the 

 investigation of his dental equipment. 



All the specialized knowledge and information of the editorial staff of the Popular 

 Science Monthly is at your disposal. Write to the editor if you think he can help, you. 



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