An equine malocclusion is a misalignment between the upper and lower jaws of a horse or other equine. It results in a faulty bite with the upper and lower teeth failing to meet correctly. [1] Malocclusions can cause pain to the horse and may also lead to weight loss and other eating problems related to poor chewing or loss of appetite. In addition, discomfort can lead to poor behavior when the animal is ridden or driven, particularly if a bit is used in the horse's mouth.
Caudal hooks are defined as when the dominant lower or upper last molar overhang the opposing molar. They can be hereditary and may result because a horse is born either parrot-mouthed or monkey-mouthed. They can also be caused secondary to another molar malocclusion that forces the jaw to disalign. This malocclusion results in problems for the horse when eating. It prevents the horse from chewing side to side freely which causes incorrect and excessive tooth wear. The soft tissues of the mouth can be damaged because the hooks are sharp and can cut them. Caudal hooks will also cause discomfort to the horse during riding. To fix caudal hooks, the dominant molar must be reduced, preventing extreme wear to the opposing molar, and rounded so that the soft tissue is not traumatized. [2]
Rostral hooks occur when the dominant upper front premolars overhang the lower premolars. They can be hereditary or developmental meaning that the horse can have an overbite at birth or can have another malocclusion that forces the disalignment of the jaw. Rostral hooks can result in improper and extreme molar wear especially to the opposing lower premolar. Other problems include bit problems and soft tissue damage. Fixing Rostral hooks requires that you reduce the dominant portion of the upper premolar and round the unopposed portion smoothly towards the gum. Preventive maintenance is required to prevent recurring Rostral hooks. [2]
When there is excessive height to the lower premolars, the horse has a condition known as ramps. They occur when the upper from the premolar deciduous cap or baby tooth is kept resulting in the abnormal growth of the permanent premolar. The problem with ramps is that they prevent the horse from freely chewing side-to-side. This causes improper and over wear of the molars. It will also, along with an underbite, cause severe discomfort when a bit is placed in the horses mouth. To solve the problem, the dominant tooth must be reduced to allow the opposing one to recover. [2]
Enamel points are sharp points that develop on the inside of the lower molars and outside of the upper molars. They occur over time as the horse stops chewing as far sideways. This makes the unopposed edge tooth get longer. When the edge tooth gets longer it forms razor sharp points. They cause pain to the horse because they irritate the soft tissue of the gums when the horse eats and when certain equipment is used in the mouth resulting in the tongue and cheeks being pulled into these points. To resolve this problem the points must be filed off. [2]
A sheared molar table is the extreme angulation of the chewing surface of the molars. It is caused by a lack of side-to-side chewing. It is a very severe problem because the horse cannot chew sideways. This results in the horse not being able to break down its food properly leading to malnutrition. This malocclusion can be resolved by correcting the angle of the molar table. [2]
Wave complexes occur when the molar arcade develops an uneven surface with a wave-like appearance. It usually occurs in the pre-molars and molars. It generally occurs secondarily to other malocclusions. It results in prematurely worn out teeth, periodontal pocketing, decay, and tooth loss. It also prevents the horse from properly grinding its food as it makes side-to-side chewing difficult. A resolution for this problem is the reduction of the high complexes. This allows and encourages the horse to chew side-to-side. [2]
These occur when the molar arcade develops a stepped appearance. Its main cause is a missing tooth which allows the opposing teeth to grow into the gap, but it can occur because of uneven wear or if the deciduous cap or baby tooth is retained too long preventing normal tooth growth. It can prevent the horse from freely chewing and cause the improper wear of the molars and incisors. A solution is to reduce the high molar allowing proper chewing. Preventative maintenance must be used to stop this from happening again in the event that it was caused by a lost tooth. [2]
These are enlarged ridges that run across the chewing surfaces of the molars. They can result from the disalignment of the jaw or the horse is not chewing in a proper sideways motion. They are caused when a hard spot on one tooth digs into and wears out a soft spot on another tooth. They interfere with normal chewing and cause excessive wear to the opposing molars. They can also result in periodontal disease and diastema. To resolve these you must reduce the enlarged ridges to let the opposing teeth recover and allow the horse to chew correctly. [2]
Periodontal pockets occur when gum disease makes pockets around the teeth. Food gets caught in these pockets and causes even more decay. The disease progresses as the horse is unable to chew properly. It can lead to infection, abscesses in the mouth, and tooth loss. It should be corrected as early as possible, and it is very difficult to stop. If the disease is caught early it can be prevented. [2]
Diastema is defined as a space between two adjoining teeth. Food can be trapped between teeth leading to severe periodontal disease and poor dental health overall. It is very difficult to correct. The unopposed overgrowth of the opposing teeth must be reduced. [2]
Horse teeth refers to the dentition of equine species, including horses and donkeys. Equines are both heterodontous and diphyodontous, which means that they have teeth in more than one shape, and have two successive sets of teeth, the deciduous and permanent sets.
The human teeth function to mechanically break down items of food by cutting and crushing them in preparation for swallowing and digesting. Humans have four types of teeth: incisors, canines, premolars, and molars, which each have a specific function. The incisors cut the food, the canines tear the food and the molars and premolars crush the food. The roots of teeth are embedded in the maxilla or the mandible and are covered by gums. Teeth are made of multiple tissues of varying density and hardness.
Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiology of the teeth of an animal.
A third molar, commonly called a wisdom tooth, is one of the three molars per quadrant of the human dentition. It is the most posterior of the three. The age at which wisdom teeth come through (erupt) is variable, but this generally occurs between late teens and early twenties. Most adults have four wisdom teeth, one in each of the four quadrants, but it is possible to have none, one to three, or more than four, in which case the extras are called supernumerary teeth.
Dental braces are devices used in orthodontics that align and straighten teeth and help position them with regard to a person's bite, while also aiming to improve dental health. They are often used to correct underbites, as well as malocclusions, overbites, open bites, gaps, deep bites, cross bites, crooked teeth, and various other flaws of the teeth and jaw. Braces can be either cosmetic or structural. Dental braces are often used in conjunction with other orthodontic appliances to help widen the palate or jaws and to otherwise assist in shaping the teeth and jaws.
In orthodontics, a malocclusion is a misalignment or incorrect relation between the teeth of the upper and lower dental arches when they approach each other as the jaws close. The English-language term dates from 1864; Edward Angle (1855-1930), the "father of modern orthodontics", popularised it. The word "malocclusion" derives from occlusion, and refers to the manner in which opposing teeth meet.
Wolf teeth are small, peg-like horse teeth, which sit just in front of the first cheek teeth of horses and other equids. They are vestigial first premolars, and the first cheek tooth is referred to as the second premolar even when wolf teeth are not present. Torbjörn Lundström in Sweden reported that about 45-50% of 25000 horses had wolf teeth. They are much less common in the mandible than the maxilla although mandibular wolf teeth are found very occasionally.
Pericoronitis is inflammation of the soft tissues surrounding the crown of a partially erupted tooth, including the gingiva (gums) and the dental follicle. The soft tissue covering a partially erupted tooth is known as an operculum, an area which can be difficult to access with normal oral hygiene methods. The hyponym operculitis technically refers to inflammation of the operculum alone.
Veterinary dentistry is the field of dentistry applied to the care of animals. It is the art and science of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of conditions, diseases, and disorders of the oral cavity, the maxillofacial region, and its associated structures as it relates to animals.
The dental arches are the two arches of teeth, one on each jaw, that together constitute the dentition. In humans and many other species; the superior dental arch is a little larger than the inferior arch, so that in the normal condition the teeth in the maxilla slightly overlap those of the mandible both in front and at the sides. The way that the jaws, and thus the dental arches, approach each other when the mouth closes, which is called the occlusion, determines the occlusal relationship of opposing teeth, and it is subject to malocclusion if facial or dental development was imperfect.
Tooth eruption is a process in tooth development in which the teeth enter the mouth and become visible. It is currently believed that the periodontal ligament plays an important role in tooth eruption. The first human teeth to appear, the deciduous (primary) teeth, erupt into the mouth from around 6 months until 2 years of age, in a process known as "teething". These teeth are the only ones in the mouth until a person is about 6 years old creating the primary dentition stage. At that time, the first permanent tooth erupts and begins a time in which there is a combination of primary and permanent teeth, known as the mixed dentition stage, which lasts until the last primary tooth is lost. Then, the remaining permanent teeth erupt into the mouth during the permanent dentition stage.
Dental anatomy is a field of anatomy dedicated to the study of human tooth structures. The development, appearance, and classification of teeth fall within its purview. Tooth formation begins before birth, and the teeth's eventual morphology is dictated during this time. Dental anatomy is also a taxonomical science: it is concerned with the naming of teeth and the structures of which they are made, this information serving a practical purpose in dental treatment.
Tooth loss is a process in which one or more teeth come loose and fall out. Tooth loss is normal for deciduous teeth, when they are replaced by a person's adult teeth. Otherwise, losing teeth is undesirable and is the result of injury or disease, such as dental avulsion, tooth decay, and gum disease. The condition of being toothless or missing one or more teeth is called edentulism. Tooth loss has been shown to causally reduce overall health and wellbeing as it increases the probability of depression.
Occlusion, in a dental context, means simply the contact between teeth. More technically, it is the relationship between the maxillary (upper) and mandibular (lower) teeth when they approach each other, as occurs during chewing or at rest.
Overjet is the extent of horizontal (anterior-posterior) overlap of the maxillary central incisors over the mandibular central incisors. In class II malocclusion the overjet is increased as the maxillary central incisors are protruded.
Cracked tooth syndrome (CTS) is where a tooth has incompletely cracked but no part of the tooth has yet broken off. Sometimes it is described as a greenstick fracture. The symptoms are very variable, making it a notoriously difficult condition to diagnose.
Teeth are common to most vertebrates, but mammalian teeth are distinctive in having a variety of shapes and functions. This feature first arose among early therapsids during the Permian, and has continued to the present day. All therapsid groups with the exception of the mammals are now extinct, but each of these groups possessed different tooth patterns, which aids with the classification of fossils.
The infundibulum of a tooth is the funnel-like center that is filled with cementum. The funnel is widest at the top (crown) which is the grinding (occlusal) surface. The infundibulum is also known as the dental cup. Simple tooth infundibula occur most notably in the incisors of horses and other equids, but they also occur in the premolars and molars of ruminants and camelids. The infundibula found in ruminants can get quite complex some with two funneling centers, and with multiple folding in the sides of the cup. These folds produce greater amounts of enamel in vertical curtains that substantially increase the durability of the tooth. The cheek teeth of elephants express this in a slightly different form with the vertical curtains of enamel coming in from the sides and meeting in the middle.
A periodontal examination is a clinical examination of the periodontium (gums). It is routinely carried out in dentistry and allied specialties. Many different techniques are used around the world.
Intrusion is a movement in the field of orthodontics where a tooth is moved partially into the bone. Intrusion is done in orthodontics to correct an anterior deep bite or in some cases intrusion of the over-erupted posterior teeth with no opposing tooth. Intrusion can be done in many ways and consists of many different types. Intrusion, in orthodontic history, was initially defined as problematic in early 1900s and was known to cause periodontal effects such as root resorption and recession. However, in mid 1950s successful intrusion with light continuous forces was demonstrated. Charles J. Burstone defined intrusion to be "the apical movement of the geometric center of the root (centroid) in respect to the occlusal plane or plane based on the long axis of tooth".