What teeth can tell you
An understanding of the structure and function of normal equine dentition underscores why visits by an equine dentist need to be a regular part of horse care.
An understanding of the structure and function of normal equine dentition underscores why visits by an equine dentist need to be a regular part of horse care.
You don’t have to be a fan of the CBS television series “CSI” to know how important teeth can be as evidence: Fiction writers since Arthur Conan Doyle have made teeth pivotal to many a plot turn. One of the best early expositions of dental forensics comes in Dorothy Sayers’ 1939 In the Teeth of the Evidence, in which her detective hero, Lord Peter Wimsey, assists in the lab while two dentists examine a corpse recovered from a burning car. They discover, despite the charred condition of the body, that most of the fillings were put in after the victim died but before he was roasted.
Wonderful stuff! But lest you think that such deduction is only found in fiction, take for example the recent work of David Frayer, PhD, a University of Kansas professor of anthropology, who discovered a pattern of fine scratches upon the teeth of a Neanderthal skull recovered from a cave deposit in Europe. The individual had an impacted tooth that was probably hurting him; the scratches proved to come from habitual use of wooden toothpicks. While anthropologists debate whether Neanderthals had articulated speech, that set of Neanderthal teeth is certainly “talking”!
Horse teeth, too, tell fascinating tales, but in order to understand the information coming “straight from the horse’s mouth,” the investigator must first understand something about the structure and function of a normal equine dentition. In this, the second installment of our four-part miniseries, I will prepare you to correctly interpret the abnormalities---even extreme pathologies---of the four famous stallions we’re investigating. Biographies of the four horses---Black Hawk and Ethan Allen (Morgans), Lexington (Thoroughbred) and Rolf (Mongolian Wild Horse)---were provided in our previous installment (“Bones Speak Volumes,” EQUUS 482). In the next installment, we’ll look at their actual dental pathologies and the level of dental care that they received during their lifetimes. This month’s material will prepare you not only to appreciate what these horses mouths have to tell us, but will also give you some important insights as to why visits with an equine dentist need to be a regular part of care for your own horse.