The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-11-15
DENTISTRY ON HORSES
Operations which Are Renew
ing a D~cAyed Root.

Operations which srePerformed-Rsms~
Ing Decsyed Root.
At each of its stables. the Metropol-
itan Traction Co. maintains o hospital
for the car horses sick or temporarily
disabled Probably the most Interest,"
ing part OF the duties of the veterinary
surgeon in charge is that Of attending
10 the horses teeth
Equine dentistry Is on o generous
scale, aud the formidable instruments
used seem To pertain to n blacksmith
more than q dentist Once every year
the horses mouths are overhauled and
n thorough examination of their teeth
takes place. The operation Is known
technically as floating" and consists
for the most part of fling off the sharp
edges of molars which are liable 10
lacerate tina mouth of the animal
The instruments for this purpose are \
heavy rasp about foot long, which IL
used for connecting irregularities in
the front teeth, and n smaller curved
rasp, attached TO long handle, which
Is used for the molars. No pain seems
TO be felt by the horses while the fling
is going on The veterinary explained
that this was because the teeth of
horse are ordinarily solid. and. more
over, the canal containing the sensitive
nerve does not extend up very close to
the top of the tooth
A far more painful operation Is nee
essary when n tooth becomes too long
and has to be shortened. The teeth of
a horse are always growing, and when
the animal loses front tooth the OPP
posing tooth gradually becomes longer.
1t has nothing opposite to grind II
down, and would in time very serious
ly Inconvenience the animal Time IL
precious and horsefiesh Is cheap. there
fore the shortest possible method 10
used. To file :he tooth down would
take too long. so IL in of 1T . single
snip with an instrument which would
do the same 70 thin iron bar. The cut.
tiers are about three feet long and havs
n lever arrangement near the cutting
edges which trebles the force which
would be obtained by the use of thu
handles alone. The horse Is not tied,
but simply held by an attendant willis
the surgeon adjusts the cutting edges
20 the tooth. aud with quick pressure
bf the long handles cuts OF as much 81
the tooth ne required. Before the In
vention of this instrument IL was Gus
tomary TO cut off tooth by means 81
a chisel and hammer. This was An ex-
,quisitely painful operation, whereas,
with the new instrument. the pain IL
much less. very often the animal
.evincing no discomfort whatever
1t Is not often that the extraction Of
n horses tooth is necessary. but when
70 is the operation Is a rather formids-
bile one. The teeth OF a horse, despies
their solidity. decay rapidly II they
once start. and tooth Il usually gons
before the veterinary knows that IL 10
decaved.
The instruments for extraction are
somewhat like those used in ordinary
dentistry. but much larger. Their APP
pearancs Is calculated 20 give = man
with toothaehe # They are about
three feet long and OF great power. 10
requires . pretty strong pair % arms
20 pull out a horses tooth, notwith-
standing the size and strength Of the
forceps A skiilfui operator will er-
tract the offending tooth while an
attendant holds The horses head II the
animal IL n quiet one. With high
spirited or nervous horses IA opera.-
ing table Is required The saimal 10
backed up ~ the table. which Is very
solid and with biaged top. After be-
ing strapped securely 70 tue top % the
table the horse IL brought 70 . rscsus.
bent position By simply farming the
top back upon 10 hinze2 This tabs
f. used for all operations Ia which
horse is required % be passive Great
strides have been made Tecsn,ly ia
dentistry for horses oniY 81 late has
the Importance Of sound teeth been
recognized as contributing greatly %
the service and health Of the AssUsL
Operations are nov psrforrDss which
would have been deemed isnposzibls
ten or fifteen years aga u seHsstinoss
happeas that the roo. % a deeays4
tooth will eaa.e troB Die % . korAs
which can only - relieved by snirnc-
ton The root cannot sell - reached
hy sorcep.. heessse !. IL Tar below tie
surface % The znrs-
Ia an a@yrzTa.sd case az thss kio4
some tine ago. fhs opsrs.ion os TIRE
phining Vas p~rforase1- Tss tooth "a
he extracted vas 10 TIE lower jaz. ssd
hole wa bored from sndsr the iz--
boae rigs. up 20 the root % The toosh-
A essssl .as thss passed up ne cavity
and = smart ZAP wits = haz1sT Eat
the o1sneing root fyisg co. Tss azs-
nal ssAs sooa wei azaia ss1 abe n
do "a work Arsonx EalaAb.e aors-s
TIE Alag % dscaT~1 se<ts y gate ct
t~nssrs.y prart}o~1 Tss 1ilinz ns-
s~risl = a silver asazlZsaa uhA<e -
packed tlgkt wstk . ehAs<i snd snslisL
Fzise teeth hare 30: JET esrS ssaes zas
q foy acrs~S hes soazs hOss1 experts
ssy INA. fssT eoaid - a:iliz-d. - sozas
Gases. % a5Tzat2g@-S I. TFseaas-
f'c,ssicus-Tsoa's yos faink Pazes~a
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