LOCAL STOMATITIS.
Division of circumscribed buccal inflammations: palatitis; gnathitis gingivitis; glossitis. Causes: injuries; acrid; venomous or caustic agents; diseased teeth; foreign bodies in gland ducts; malformed jaws; infections, etc. Symptoms: salivation; difficult prehension and mastication; dropping half masticated morsels; distinctive indications of different caustics; abrasion; abscess; slough; infective disease lesions. Treatment: for palatitis, massage by hard corn ears, scarification, laxatives; for gnathitis, care for teeth and ducts, astringent washes, eliminate mercury; for glossitis, remove cause, use antidote to venom, or to chemical irritant, astringent, antiseptic lotions or electuaries, evacuate abscess, soft, cool diet, elevate the head, suspend the tongue.
Localized inflammations in the buccal cavity are named according to the portion of the lining membrane attacked;—palatitis if seated in the roof of the mouth; gnathitis if restricted to the cheeks; gingivitis if to the gums; and glossitis if to the tongue.
Palatitis. Lampas. Congestion of the hard palate behind the upper front teeth. This is usually seen in young horses during the period of shedding the teeth and is caused by the irritation and vascularity consequent on teething. The red and tender membrane projects beyond the level of the wearing surfaces of the upper incisors, and may materially interfere with the taking in of food. A common practice in such cases is to feed unshelled Indian corn, the nibbling of which seems to improve the circulation in the periodontal membrane and by sympathy in the adjacent palate. Superficial incisions with the lancet or knife will usually relieve, and may be followed by mild astringent lotions if necessary. If apparently associated with costiveness or gastric or intestinal irritation a dose of physic will be demanded. Nothing can excuse the inhuman and useless practice of burning the parts with a hot iron.
Gnathitis. Inflammation of the Cheeks. Usually resulting as a distinct affection from irregular or overgrown teeth, or the entrance of vegetable spikes into the gland ducts, these cause local swelling and tenderness, slow imperfect mastication, dropping of food half chewed, accumulation of food between the cheeks and teeth, thickening, induration and sloughing of the mucous membrane with excessive fœtor.
Treatment. Consists in correcting the state of the teeth and ducts and using one of the washes recommended for glossitis.
Gingivitis. Inflammation of the gums. This is either connected with the eruption of the teeth in young animals and to be corrected by lancing the swollen gums and giving attention to the diet and bowels; or it is due to scissor-teeth or to the wear of the teeth down to the gums in old horses; or it is dependent on diseased teeth, or mercurial poisoning, under which subjects it will be more conveniently considered. Barley awns or other irritants must be extracted.
Glossitis, Inflammation of the Tongue. Causes. Mostly the result of violence with bits, ropes, etc., with the teeth, or with the hand in giving medicine; of scalding food, of acrid plants in the food: of irritant drugs (ammonia, turpentine, croton, lye, etc.), or of sharp, pointed bodies (needles, pins, thorns, barley and other barbs, etc.) which perforate the organ. In exceptional cases leech and snake bites are met with especially in cattle, owing to the tongue being exposed when taking in food. Local infections and those of the specific forms, determine and maintain glossitis.
Symptoms: Free flow of saliva, difficulty in taking in food or drinking, and red, swollen, tender state of the tongue, which in bad cases hangs from between the lips. The mucous membrane may be white, (from muriatic acid, alkalies, etc.), black, (from oil of vitriol, lunar caustic, etc.), yellow, (from nitric acid, etc.), or of other colors according to the nature of the irritant. It may be raised in blisters, may present red, angry sores where the epithelium has dropped off; may become firm and indurated from excessive exudation; may swell and fluctuate at a given point from the formation of an abscess; or may become gangrenous in part and drop off. Breathing is difficult and noisy from pressure on the soft palate. There is usually little fever and death is rare unless there is general septic infection.
Treatment will depend on the cause of injury. In all cases seek for foreign bodies imbedded in the organ and remove them. If snake bites are observed use ammonia or potassium permanganate locally and generally, or cholesterin as a local application. If the irritation has resulted from mineral acids, wash out with calcined magnesia lime water, or bicarbonate of soda or potash. If from alkalies (lye) use weak vinegar. If from caustic salts employ white of egg, vegetable-gluten, boiled linseed, slippery elm, or other compound of albumen or sheathing agent. In ordinary cases use cold astringent lotions, such as vinegar and water; vinegar and honey; borax, boric or carbolic acid, chlorate of potash, alum or tannin and honey. Poultices applied around the throat and beneath the lower jaw are often of great value. The bowels may be relieved if necessary by injections, as it is usually difficult to give anything by the mouth. If ulcers form touch them daily with a stick of lunar caustic or with a fine brush dipped in a solution of ten grains of that agent in an ounce of distilled water. For sloughs use a lotion of permanganate of potash, one drachm to one pint of water, or one of carbolic acid, one part to fifty of water. If an abscess forms give a free exit to the pus with the lancet, and afterward support the system by soft nourishing diet, and use disinfectants locally. As in all cases of stomatitis, the food must be cold gruels or mashes, or finely sliced roots will often be relished.