When horses functioned as the primary means of draft andtransportation, equine dentistry was a very important partof veterinary medicine. This is evidenced by booksdedicated to the subject, for example Merillat's book,Veterinary Surgery, Volume 1: Animal Dentistry andDiseases of the Mouth published in 1906. Much earlyliterature was based on observation, categorization, andcomparison. Examples include dental aging papers thatdate back to Girard in 1834, Simonds in 1854, and the mostfamous of all, Galvayne in 1886. Comparative pathologywas done brilliantly by Colyer in 1936.The process of observation, categorization, andcomparison might be thought of as classification and is amethod common in all branches of science, medicine,veterinary medicine, and dentistry. The next stage is in-depthanalysis of physiological and pathological processes and acloser look at anatomy, including histology. The earlyliterature on periodontal disease by Little, Colyer, and Vossfalls into this category.
Even Aristotle made observations ofperiodontal disease in equines well before his time!After the introduction of motorized vehicles, equinedentistry took a back seat to food animal disease.Veterinarians were dealing with infectious diseases thataffected food animal production such as hog cholera andfoot and mouth disease. Horses were affected by some ofthese same diseases. However, the growing worldpopulation needed to be fed, and veterinarians focusedprincipally on that problem.At this time veterinarians such as Becker made advancedinnovations in instrumentation as well as beginning the nextstage of scientific advancement, that is, the application to theequine patient of concepts developed in dentistry of otherspecies. Becker's motorized instruments are still envied byequine dental practitioners today. The many dentalimpressions he took were examples of application of humandental principles and materials to the equine patient.After World War II, many parts of the world, especially theUS, engaged in economic progress and a financial boomoccurred.
The result was acquisition of disposable incomeand equine medicine regained its importance. Evidence ofthis fact is the formation of the American Association ofEquine Practitioners in 1954. People had money to spend onperforming horses, and equestrian vocations were eitherborn anew, or expanded significantly.Equine veterinarians were busy keeping these performerssound and able to do their jobs. While areas of lameness,reproduction, and surgery were rapidly developing, dentistryremained less important, and advancement stagnated. As timewent on, a handful of individuals recognized the need fordental care in performing horses and proceeded to fill thatniche. Jeffrey, Moriarity, and others who were notveterinarians revived and advanced equine dentistry, with aneye towards bitting comfort.The stages of advancement overlapped.
The secondstage of in-depth investigation continued in the 1970s asBaker presented his landmark works. Continuing to currenttimes and knowledge, Dixon and his group, including Kilicand Dacre, made significant contributions with descriptionsof dental histology and comparison of normal teeth todiseased teeth. This trend continues in this group todaywith du Toit's current efforts. They have exponentiallyadvanced knowledge of tooth structure and function.Continuing to advance the third step in scientificadvancement, which we will call cross-species applicationof dental principles, Dr. Peter Emily pioneered applicationof human dental principles to all veterinary patients,including the horse. Easley and others have continued theprocess especially in the area of endodontics, where Easleyand Emily collaborated on many surgical endodontic cases.This book identifies principles found in the world ofgeneral dentistry and applies them to the equine species.
Since the vast majority of knowledge is based on, andespecially the body of literature is comprised of principlesof brachydont (human an.