Thursday, January 1, 2009
I use my hand to feel (palpate) every tooth in the mouth. I believe the advantages over a visual inspection are many. In cold weather when the breath vaporizes. I am unable to see. My eyes now can't see up close (ha ha). I feel what the horse feels. I can associate a touch with a response from the horse indicating localized pain. I can smell an infection and locate it (or a mature cap). I can measure the horse's resistance to opening the mouth which may indicate a problem outside the mouth (jaw joint or TMJ). I can sense the willingness of the horse. The horse can smell me and sense the willingness of me to understand him.
None of this can be achieved with the eyes. After 41,000 floats times 3 palpations per horse = 123,000 palpations.
I think my fingers are better than my eye.
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Equine Dentistry Without Drama™ by Geoff Tucker, DVM is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.theequinepractice.com.