Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 92.djvu/200

 Taking Old Dobbin to the Dentist

Horse-dentistry is not one of the overcrowded professions. It is not a calling for weakHngs

First, he is fastened securely by straps running from both sides of the stable to his head and also from the roof of the stall, so that he cannot move his head sideways or up and down. The straps are connected with a heavy rubber harness that slips loosely over the jaws of the horse.

Not being gifted with the power of speech, the horse cannot tell the dentist which particular tooth is troublesome. It is therefore necessary for the dentist to locate the aching tooth for him- self. This is not so diffi- cult as it may seem. The dentist locates the troublesome tooth either by the presence of an ab- scess or, if there is none, by means of an imple- ment called a "float." With the float, which is but a long-handled file, the dentist feels along the teeth until his sense of touch tells him he is in contact with a loose tooth. That is the tooth to be removed. Extraction is about the only remedy when a horse has the toothache. There is no such thing possible as filling a horse's decayed tooth.

The horse, suspicious and nervous as soon as he feels the gripping forceps, in- voluntarily helps the operation l)y flinging up his head. He almost pulls the tooth himself. The difficult part of the opera- tion for the dentist is to hold the tooth firmly in the forceps and help with a counter pull. Most of the dental trouble of a horse occurs with the upper teeth so that it is seldom necessary to extract a lower one.

���If a horse has lost a tooth in one jaw, the one opposite grows very long because nothing grinds it off. The dentist trims off long teeth with the nippers

Horses as a rule prove themselves docile. Here the operator is spraying out the horse's mouth in order to prevent the for- mation of cavities

��PHILADELPHIA has a dental office for horses. You, or rather the horse in company with you, enter the office through a special doorway and are ushered into the waiting room. Here you may rest and improve your mind with the out-of-date literature usually found in dental establishments, while your equine friend is taken to an operating room in the back.

The operating department consists of a number of stalls, well padded and car- peted with hay, so that the horse runs no risk of injury should he '•ear during the investigation of his dental equipment.

��All the specialized knowledge and information of the editorial staff of the Popular Science Monthly is at your disposal. Write to the editor if you think he can help, you.

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