Treatment.—Give fifteen drops of A.A., three times per day. This soon relieves the feverish irritation, and the tooth usually makes its way quietly to the surface. Nicking the gum directly over the tooth in the form of a cross is sometimes beneficial. If teeth are very slow in coming, showing an evident deficiency of bony deposit, an oyster shell burned to lime, and broken or ground in his feed, will promote the growth and production of bone, and be of service.
Diseased or Irregular Teeth
Sometimes the teeth of a horse present irregularities. Some of the teeth are too long, or become ragged. As a consequence, the tongue or cheeks are wounded, and the horse eats imperfectly, has pain, drops or “quids” his food. Whenever this condition is found, if the difficulty does not mend itself, the long teeth should be extracted if loose, or be filed down, and the points of the ragged teeth smoothed off.
Decayed teeth produce similar symptoms. In addition, a bad smell exudes from the mouth; stringy saliva flows away in large quantities, and the eyes may be inflamed. If allowed to remain, the fang may become diseased, the socket and gum inflame, an abscess form, and a portion of the jaw-bone may die. If in the upper jaw, the matter may burst into the nose and be discharged. It is of bad smell and color, and has been mistaken for nasal gleet and glanders.
Examine carefully with the finger, and by feeling along the jaw, see if there is any swelling or indentation, or if there is any old stub or loosened tooth, a milk tooth that has been pushed one side, or down, or is loose, making the gum inflamed or painful and preventing the animal from properly eating his food. If so, remove the stub or loose tooth, or file off the ragged portion, so that the mouth may become sound and healthy. Sometimes a thick, unhealthy discharge from the nostrils has been mistaken for glanders, when the real difficulty was from diseased teeth.
Treatment.—Draw out the diseased tooth, and give fifteen drops of A.A., each morning, and the same dose of C.C., at night, for several days.
Lampas
Occasionally the bars of the mouth swell and rise to a level with, and even beyond, the teeth, occasioning soreness, pain, and difficulty of eating. It is most common in young horses, in connection with the cutting and shedding of teeth, from congestion and the extension of the inflammation of the gums during this process. It also occurs in old horses; for the growth of teeth in horses continues during life. Derangement of stomach, or worms, is sometimes connected with it.
Treatment.—Give fifteen drops of A.A., two or three times per day. This will soon relieve the irritation and swelling. Should there be any derangement of the digestive organs, a few doses of J.K., given morning and night, will promptly relieve not only the derangement of the stomach, but the Lampas also.
Swelling or soreness of the gums will be promptly relieved by giving fifteen drops of J.K., daily, or even, morning and night.