Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1903-11-03
DENTISTS FOR HORSES.
bow Operation of scraping and Fill
ing Molar Is Performed.

years that the dentist has come
TO give the horse serious atten
ton. AS yet there are but one or
two thoroughly qualified horse
dentists in New York city, and
they are kept surprisingly busy
the year round, says the New
York Times.
1t is interesting to watch an OPP
Grafton in equine dentistry. A re-
porter visited the other day a large
stable containing a string of val
liable horses owned by a wealthy
New Yorker. One of the animals,
a polo pony, was suffering from a
bad mOlOr, and it was about to be
appeared in a thin white canvas
box stall, and a table on which
were a glittering array Of dental
instruments, was placed in a con
venient position by two groOms.
The dentist, a stocllily built man,
appeared in a thin white canvas
coat. He picked up one Of the in
struments. 1t had an ivory handle
and four small bars Of nickel,
working on a ratchet and crossing
one another so as to form hollow
square that could be made large
or small by the turning of a screw.
! This instrument the dentist
called a spectrum. Setting it to
the proper size, he slipped it
gently into the animals mouth,
which was kept partly open mean
time by the efforts Of a groom, IN
til the instrument fitted upon the
back teeth and thus opened her
mouth as wide as it was possible.
The groom now took hold of the
handle Of the spectrum with one
hand and the mares tongue with
the other. enabling the dentist TO
get full view of the damaged
! tooth. After examining it care
fully he found that a splinter
would have to come of. Taking
MP cutter. n scissor-shapcd in
strumcnt two feet long, and with
saw-lil,c edges. he applied it to the
tooth and by a quick movement
snapped off the offending splinter
Among the display Of nickel
plated dental tools on the table
was an electric battery buZzing
away. To one of its wires tho
dentist fixed a diminutivc drill
| Instantly there was a burr upon
the end Of the drill as it began tC
revOlye blythe currents force, Will
the rapidity of a circular saw
Quickly the dentist applied the
drill to the damaged molar, anC
, with a buzzing, grinding sound il
! bored its way through the enamel
After removing the drill the
dentist took mp a syringe, through
which hot air was blown into tho
tooth. thoroughly cleansing il. \
small piece of gold was then
placed i'm the cavity by forccps.
This mallcablc metal thc surgeon
pounded tightly into the socket,
adding more and more of the gold
as ne hammered and nodded il,
until finally the tooth had TO
gained it's original Sizcand shape
The operation lasted barely an
hour. The Speculum was removed
| nv the groom and the mare was
given a bucket Of water. which il
drank up grcedily, and afterward
ate a hearty meal. The animal
suffered no pain. Throughout the
operation ii remained perfectly
still; It seemed to know that
something was being done for its
benefit.
The mare had had the tooth
broken accidentally in the field by
blow from a polo club. The
splinter that remained cut her
mouth and the pain prevented
her from eating.
Aluminium and amalgam as
well as gold are used in the filling
and browning Of horses teeth.
The fee charged varies anywhere
from So to S125. Where gold is
used it is. Of course, the most eX-
pensive item in the operation, for
the back tooth Of an equine meas
ures an inch broad and three inch
es long, and it requires therefore
a large quantity Of valuable met
al to fill up these molars.