Regional Veterinary Surgery

SHARP TEETH

• Sharp teeth are commonly met with in cattle and horses.
• The sharpness is seen on the outer border of the upper molars and the inner border of the lower molars.
• As the upper jaw is wider than the lower jaw, the outer border of the upper molars and the inner border of the lower molars extend beyond the tables of the opposing teeth. But under normal conditions, there is more or less uniform wear of the tables because of the side to side movements of the jaws during mastication.
• When the side to side movement of the jaws is restricted due to some reason, as in the case of weakness of the masseter muscles, painful lesions in the mouth, etc, the wear at the above mentioned borders is restricted. This result in extra sharp borders.
• The sharp borders cause injury to the cheek and tongue and also make lateral movements of the jaws difficult.
• The restricted jaw movements so caused further diminishes the wear at the already prominent borders and aggravates the condition.

Symptoms

• As the sharp borders of the upper molars rub on the cheek and those of the lower molars cause injury to the tongue during mastication, resulting in pain. There will be imperfect grinding of food.
• The animal may hold the head to one side during chewing. Partially chewed food materials mixed with saliva may drop out of the mouth while chewing, i.e. quidding, will be invariably present.
• Foaming saliva may be seen at the borders of the mouth while chewing. If the mouth is opened and examined, food materials accumulating between the cheek and molars may be seen.
• The sharp edges of the teeth can be either palpated from outside or they can be detected during  open mouth examination. There may be wounds or ulcers on the tongue and inner aspect of the cheeks. There will be a gradual loss of general condition of the animal due to improper feeding.

Treatment

• The mouth is kept open by means of an oral speculum or by holding the tongue pulled out through the opposite side  and the sharp borders of the teeth are rasped.