'230 ' DISEASES OF THE TEETH. 



DISEASES OP THE TEETH. 



Of the diseases of tlie teeth in the horse we know little. Carious or 

 hollow teeth are occasionally, but not often seen ; Imt the edges of the 

 grinders, from the wearing off of the enamel or the irregular growth of 

 the teeth, become rough, and wound the inside of the cheek ; it is then 

 necessary to adopt a summary but effectual method of cure, namely, to 

 rasp them smooth ; the outside edges of the grinders in the upper jaw 

 alone req^^ire the application of the tooth rasp, and if the finger is carefully 

 introduced inside the cheek, before and after its use, the result will be un- 

 mistakeable. Many bad ulcers have been produced in the mouth by the 

 neglect of this. 



The teeth sometimes gTow irregularly in length, and this is particulai-ly 

 the case with the grinders, from not being in exact opposition to each other 

 when the mouth is shut. The growth of the teeth still going on, and there 

 beinf no mechanical opposition to it, one of the back teeth, or a portion of 

 one of them, shoots up considerably above the others. Sometimes it 

 penetrates the bars above, and causes soreness and ulceration ; at other 

 times it interferes pai'tially, or altogether, with the grinding motion of the 

 jaws, and the animal pines away without the cause being suspected. 

 Here the saw should be used, and the projecting portion reduced to a level 

 with the other teeth. The horse that has once been subjected to this 

 operation should afterwards be frequently examined, and especially if he 

 loses condition : and, indeed, every horse that gets thin or out of condition, 

 without fever, or other apparent cause, should have his teeth and mouth 

 carefully examined, and especially if, without any indication of sore throat, 

 he quids — partly chewing and then dropping — his food, or if he holds his 

 head somewhat on one side, while he eats, in order to get the food between 

 the oiiter edges of the teeth. A horse that has once had very irregular 

 teeth is materially lessened in value, for, although they may be sawn down 

 as carefully as possible, they will project again at no great distance of 

 time. Such a horse is to all intents and purposes unsound. In order to 

 be fit for service, he should be-in possession of his full natural powers, and 

 these powers cannot be sustained without perfect nutrition, and nutrition 

 would be rendered sadly imperfect by any defect in the operation of masti- 

 cation. Not only do some diseases of the teeth render the act of mastication 

 difficult and troublesome, but, from the food acquiring a foetid odour during 

 its detention in the mouth, the horse acquires a distaste for aliment 

 altogether. 



The continuance of a carious tooth often produces disease of the neigh- 

 bouring ones, and of the jaw itself. It should therefore be removed, as 

 soon as its real state is evident. Dreadful cases of fungus h^matodes have 

 arisen from the irritation caused by a carious tooth. 



The mode of extracting the teeth requires much reformation, and con- 

 siderable improvements have been made in dental instruments by Mr. 

 Gowing of Camden Town, by which the extraction or division of a tooth 

 is considerably facilitated. The hammer and the punch should never be 

 had recourse to. The keyed instrument of the human subject, but on a 

 larger scale, is the only one that should be permitted. 



This is the proper place to speak more at length of the effect of dentition 

 on the system generally. Horsemen in general think too lightly of it, and 

 they scarcely dream of the animal suffering to any considerable degree, or 

 absolute illness being produced ; yet he who has to do with young horses 

 wiU occasionally discover a considerable degi-ee of febrile affection, which 

 he can refer to this cause alone. Fever, cough, catarrhal affections generally, 



