Skull Cleaning

Horse skulls are useful as visual aids and for demonstrations. Veterinarians can use skulls for landmarks when performing nerve blocks (Fig. 1). Skulls can be purchased from a professional taxidermist for $200+. Many practitioners find themselves in possession of a specimen without the knowledge of how to prepare it.

A 7-year-old gelding out of Montana was presented at the wet lab. He was in good body condition, but had two chronic draining tracts on the left cheek (Fig. 1). The 308 and 309 had previously been extracted, but the tracts persisted, so the case was referred to the Academy for further evaluation.

Fractured Mandible

A 9-year-old Quarter horse was brought in for evaluation. A draining tract on the horse’s mandible had been present for the past six months. The owner stated that he had been tied to a tree, and pulled back and threw himself down. Afterwards the owner noticed a swelling on the mandible. The swollen jaw was treated by a veterinarian but the draining tract persisted.

Prevalence of Open & Closed Diastemata in Cheek Teeth

Equine diastemata are defined as a pathological dental condition that presents as abnormal spaces between two adjacent teeth within the same dental arcade (Carmalt, 2003), and its prevalence varies (e.g. Carmalt, 2003; Ramzan and Palmer, 2011). Presence of cheek teeth diastemata is considered to be grossly underdiagnosed because of the difficulty of finding it when examining animals in vivo (Collins and Dixon, 2005).

The modern horse evolved complex hypsodont dentition to expedite attrition of forage composed of coarse silica containing grasses, for up to 18 hours a day and facilitate efficient digestion (Dacre, 2006; Goodwin et al., 2007). However, the domestic horse is mainly utilised as a companion animal for leisure pursuits or competition (Aberle and Distl, 2004) with management of their environment frequently adapted to suit the owner and incorporating reduced turnout. Many horses do not exhibit natural time budgets for grazing, reducing mastication opportunities (McBride and Long, 2001).

Periodontal Case and Proper Charting

Ridge Runner is a 26-year-old grey Arabian gelding retired from the sport of endurance riding, and now used for pleasure riding by the neighbors and grandchildren. He was first seen at the Academy four years ago. The owner had kept charts from all previous appointments which he made available for review. We noted the periodontal scale readings from every year with little change for the 106-108 and 206-208.

Extraoral Endodontic Treatment and Replantation of Equine Cheek Teeth

After molar extraction, an endodontic treatment has been performed extraorally after which the molar has been replanted in its alveolus.The recovery of the tooth in its socket was followed clinically, by x-rays, ct-scan and histopathologically. As appears from this study, it is possible that a molar attaches in its alveolus with normal connecting fibers after an extraoral endodontic procedure.

How to Determine the Stages of Periodontal Disease & How to Treat it

Periodontal disease is a multifactorial disease involving bacteria and irritants that cause inflammation and destruction of periodontal tissue. One out of every 10 horses gets advanced PD resulting in tooth loss. Periodontal tissues consist of gingiva, cementum, periodontal ligaments, and alveolar bone. Periodontal disease is classified by stages 1-4 based on the severity of radiographic changes and clinical signs.