The horse's mouth, showing the age by the teethMayhew, Edward
Science
The horse's mouth, showing the age by the teeth
Mayhew, Edward
Horses -- Age
that have once been operated on, will, at intervals, ever after during
the life of the horse, need the hand of the surgeon. If caries, however,
is neglected, and proceeds to the last stage, cure is all but hopeless.
During the death of a tooth, the symptoms are continuous. In caries,
there are intermissions, seasons of uncertain duration, during which the
horse appears to be free from suffering; but the effects, if not so
rapid in their development, are more frequently fatal in their
termination. When a tooth has lost its vitality, it becomes a foreign
body, which Nature, in time, will cast out. The retention irritates the
surrounding structures, but the irritation may in part be regarded as a
restorative process. When caries takes place, a portion only dies, but
that portion has all the injurious effect which could be attributed to
the former case, and even more, for the remaining vitality in the
unaffected part of the tooth, prevents Nature from resorting to that
process by which she would otherwise cast off the dead matter. In
consequence of this, a foreign substance is retained for a longer
period, and at the same time disease is progressing. Here, therefore,
is an additional cause at work, and hence the excess of effect. The
arteries which nourish the pulp, and the crusta petrosa, proceed from
the vessels which nurture the bone, and supply the mucous membrane of
the sinuses with the means of secretion. The same, likewise, may be
stated of the nerves going to the tooth, and though through these last
the constitution is affected, it is mainly through the agency of the
blood vessels, that the sinuses become diseased. Hence the necessity for
decision, and the need of judgment, in the application of the remedy. To
enforce the foregoing remarks, and convey to the reader a slight idea of
the consequences which ensue from a carious tooth, the accompanying
wood-cut is introduced. The specimen selected for illustration, does not
exhibit a rare or extraordinary proof of the results of this species of
disease.
[Illustration]
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