St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-01-04
DENTISTRY ON noRsea

DENTISTRY ON HoRse4
Operatlsas WAish Are OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
1ng . Docayo1 Rest
At each Of its stables, the Metropol.
tan Traction Co. maintains hospital
" 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 il on . generous
scale, and the formidable instruments
used seem to pertain to . blacksmith
more than dentist. Once every year
the horses mouths are overhauled and
= thorough examination Of their teeth
takes place. The operation is known
rs floating" and consists
for the most part of fling on the sharp
edges Of molars which arc liable to
tho mouth of the animal
The instruments for this purpose are .
heavy rasp about foot long, which II
used for connecting irregularities In
rasp. attached to long handle, which
is used for the molars- No pain seems
to be felt by tho 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 mp very close to
the top Of the tooth.
A far more painful operation 10 nee.
essary when tooth becomes too long
and has to be shortened. The teeth Of
> horse are always growing. and when
the animal loses . front tooth the op-
posing tooth gradually becomes longer.
It has nothing opposite u grind II
down, and would in time very serious
ly Inconvenience tho animal. Time Il
precious and horsefesh il cheap, there
fore the shortest possible method IL
used. To file the tooth down would
take too long. 50 it is cut OF at . single
snip with an instrument which would
do tho same to . thin iron bar. The cut.
tiers are about three feet long and have
q lever arrangement near the cutting
edges which trebles the force which
would be obtained by the use Of the
handles alone. The horse is mot tied,
but simply held by an attendant while
the surgeon adjusts the cutting edges
to the tooth. and with . quick pressure
Of the long handles cuts OF a. much Of
the tooth as required. Before the in.
veutiou Of this instrument it was Gus
tomary to cut Oh q tooth by means Of
. chisel and hammer. This was IN ex.
quisitely painful operation, whereas,
with the new instrument, the pain =
much less, very often the animal
evincing no discomfort whatever. -
1t is not often that tho extractionsbl
. horses tooth is necessary, but when
it is the operation is . rather formida-
BILE one. The teeth of horse, despite
their solidity, decay rapidly II they
once start, and q tooth is usually gone
before the veterinary knows that Il -
decayed.
The instruments for extraction are
somewhat like those used in ordinary
dentistry. but much larger. Their APP
pearance is calculated to give : man
with toothache . ft They are about
three feet long and of great power. II
requires . pretty strong pair Of arms
to pull out q horses tooth, notwith.
standing the size and strength Of the
forcepa A skillful operator will ex-
tract tho offending tooth while an
attendant holds the horses head II tho
animal is . quiet one. With high
spirited or nervous horses m operat-
ing table is required. The animal is
backed up to the table. which il very
solid and with = hinged top After be-
ing strapped securely to the top Of the
table the horse is brought to . recum-
bent position by simply turning tho
top back upon its hinges This table
is used for all operations in which .
horse is required to be passive. Great
strides have been made recently in
dentistry for horses Only Of late has
the Importance of sound teeth been
recognized as contributing greatly to
the service and health Of the animal.
Operations are now performed which
would have been deemed impossible
ten or fifteen years ago. It sometimes
happens that the root Of . decayed
tooth will cause trouble to . horse
which can only be relieved by extrac'
ton. The root cannot we'll be reached
by forceps, because it Is far below the
surface of the gum.
In an aggravated case OF this kind
some time ago. the operation OF ire
phining was performed. The tooth to
be extracted was in the lower Jaw. and
. hole was bored from under the jaw.
bone right up to the root of the tooth.
A chisel was then passed mp the cavity
and smart tap with . hammer sent
the offending root flying out The ami.
NAL was soon we'll again and able to
do its work. Among valuable horses
the filling of decayed teeth is quite ex-
tensively practiced. The filing ma
terial is q silver amalgam which il
packed tight with . chisel and mallet
False teeth have not yet been made use
Of for horses, but some horse experts
say that they could be utilized, in some
cases, to sdvantage.-N. Y. Tribune.>
The New TaReeas.
Persian coloring Of gorgeous huea
and in most intricate designs will b
seen in new tafIetas for autumn. In.
deed, there are many novel suggestions
for taffeta. It IL to take ON . sheen
and softness not hitherto seen in Il,
which will recall the famous Venetian
silks of old timeA Tho blending Of
two colors only Is to Be superseded by
three or four colors shot together in
chameleon fashion. then dotted with
satin or striped or plaided with still
another color. The Louis XVI. stripes
of flowers Of natural hues will Be very
attractive 'bf0caded on taffeta grodhll
d light pink, mauvc. yellowish greef,
q gray, closely dotted or stripedwiS
l4ack in exceedingly small spscta: AID
hines. Most elegant Of all is the vefvS
&9ured tafteta for Louis XVI cod,
that are to form . part of the most ell