278 SHEAR-LIKE MOUTH. 



teeth lacerate the tongue, while those of the upper injure the cheek. 

 These injuries may eventually induce general wasting and loss of 

 power. Such a condition is seen especially in old horses, seldom 

 in other animals. 



Symptoms. The animal feeds badly, chews slowly and cautiously, 

 and holds the head to one side. Food is often dropped from the 

 mouth into the manger ; portions also remain between the teeth 

 and cheeks ; while movements of the jaws or tongue are as much 

 as possible avoided. Wounds of the mucous membrane produce 

 copious salivation. Jessen remarked that this condition was formerly 

 often overlooked ; but that its importance is apt nowadays to be 

 over-estimated, and the diagnosis of " sharp teeth " is sometimes 

 used as a cloak for ignorance. Irregularities, however, frequently 

 produce no mischief, and can only be regarded as causes of imperfect 

 mastication when they occasion wounds of the tongue or cheeks. 

 Unless where very marked, they are unimportant in young animals. 

 Treatment. Sharp points or edges can either be removed with 

 the rasp (Fig. 275) or one of the several forms of chisel (Figs. 276, 

 277 and 278). If necessary, perfectly efficient instruments can be 

 made from an ordinary foot-rasp. Large projections require the 

 use of the chisel and mallet or hammer. In the case of the back 

 molars the chisel must be used with caution, so as to avoid injuring 

 soft structures. The blow must be sharp but short ; while, to 

 prevent the chisel travelling too far forward, the left hand, in which 

 it is held, can be rested against the incisor teeth. The skilled 

 practitioner can dispense with instruments having rounded guards 

 near the cutting edge, and also with Brogniez's " odontriteur," a 

 chisel in which the blow is produced by an iron bolt sliding on the 

 handle. The rasping and chiselling of the teeth sometimes produce 

 their good results indirectly, by making one or more teeth sensitive, 

 and thus throwing the patient off its feed, time is given for recovery 

 from gastric affections. 



In old horses, chewing on one side of the mouth sometimes 

 shortens the incisors of that side. This condition, described by 

 Giinther as l ' oblique mouth," seldom causes trouble, but is 

 interesting because often associated with irregular wear of the molars. 



SHEAR-LIKE MOUTH. 



Shear-like mouth consists in a considerable increase in the obliquity 

 of the wearing surfaces of the molars. Their outer edges in both 

 jaws are too low, the inner too high, so that the wearing surfaces, 



