Abstract:
No studies have focused on dental pain signs associated with periapical infection in cheek teeth (CT) of horses. Moreover, the ability of owners to recognize signs of dental pain in horses has not been reported. We hypothesized that periapical infection will usually induce pain that manifests in the behavior of the horse. Removing the infected tooth will reduce the expression of such behaviors. Owners of 47 horses whose CT had been removed because of periapical infection participated in this study. They filled an internet-based questionnaire including 23 questions about eating behavior, bit behavior, and general behavior observed before and after the operation. The number of signs exhibited by each horse before and after CT removal was compared using Wilcoxon signed-rank sum test. Values of P < .05 were considered significant. Before the operation, avoidance behaviors, such as evading the bit, difficulties in eating, and even asocial or aggressive behaviors were commonly reported by the owners. Removing the infected tooth significantly reduced the number of these behavioral patterns expressed by the horses (P < .001 for each group of behaviors), suggesting that they could be associated with dental pain. Half of the cases had been diagnosed during a routine dental examination, indicating that many owners did not realize that certain undesirable behavioral patterns of their horses might be associated with dental pain. These findings highlight the importance of training owners to recognize behavior potentially related to dental pain in horses and that routine dental examinations are essential for ensuring horses\' well-being.
摘要:
没有研究集中在与马颊牙(CT)的根尖周感染相关的牙齿疼痛体征。此外,还没有报告主人识别马匹牙齿疼痛迹象的能力。我们假设根尖周感染通常会引起疼痛,表现为马的行为。去除受感染的牙齿将减少这种行为的表达。由于根尖周感染而切除CT的47匹马的所有者参加了这项研究。他们填写了一份基于互联网的问卷,包括23个关于饮食行为的问题,位行为,以及手术前后观察到的一般行为。使用Wilcoxon符号秩和检验比较了每匹马在CT去除之前和之后表现出的体征数量。P<0.05的值被认为是显著的。手术前,回避行为,比如逃避比特,吃的困难,甚至非社会性或攻击性行为也通常由业主报告。去除受感染的牙齿显着减少了马表达的这些行为模式的数量(每组行为P<.001),表明它们可能与牙齿疼痛有关。一半的病例是在例行牙科检查中被诊断出来的,这表明许多主人没有意识到他们的马的某些不良行为模式可能与牙齿疼痛有关。这些发现强调了培训所有者识别与马的牙齿疼痛有关的行为的重要性,并且常规牙科检查对于确保马的健康至关重要。