Is your practice diagnosing cheek teeth diastemata?

Abstract

Summary Diastema (pleural diastemata) is the most common disorder predisposing the horse to periodontal disease. These can affect the incisors or cheek teeth but pose more significant problems in the cheek teeth. Cheek teeth diastema can be congenital or develop secondary to other pathology. This condition is underdiagnosed in clinical practice due to lack of awareness of its seriousness and also due to poor dental examination techniques. A thorough dental examination requires both digital palpation and visual inspection of the oral cavity. Proper patient restraint and the use of a mouth speculum, bright light source, dental mirror or oral endoscope are required to fully inspect the equine oral cavity. Diastemata diagnosed early and managed properly can prevent the progression of periodontal disease and allow affected horses to preserve their dentition into old age.

Influence of dental materials on cells of the equine periodontium

“…However, considering the recommended applications (impression material, fixing cement and endodontic treatment) and the documented differences between brachyodont and hypsodont teeth, it appears useful to evaluate the effects of the applied substances in a specific equine model, rather than to consider consistent results from evaluations performed with cells of other species. The use of impression materials, like Honigum, in equine periodontal and interdental pockets has previously been mentioned in the literature [7,11,13,14]. These materials are mainly used due to their formability and durability.…”

“…The resulting products diffuse into the surrounding tissues, which then become inflamed [9]. As a result, attachment loss leads to the formation of periodontal and interdental pockets [9,10] and gingival recession [11] at the interproximal sites. As a result, attachment loss leads to the formation of periodontal and interdental pockets [9,10] and gingival recession [11] at the interproximal sites.…”

“…evident during clinical examination and histologically [12]. A recommended therapy involves cleaning and debridement followed by filling the interdental pockets in order to cover the inflamed tissue and to prevent reimpaction with food [7,11,13,14]. A recommended therapy involves cleaning and debridement followed by filling the interdental pockets in order to cover the inflamed tissue and to prevent reimpaction with food [7,11,13,14].…”

“…The initial gingivitis may spread to the periodontium in the interdental space, with periodontal ligament fibres gradually being destroyed by both bacterial products [9] and host's immune response [6]. As a result, attachment loss leads to the formation of periodontal and interdental pockets [9,10] and gingival recession [11] at the interproximal sites. evident during clinical examination and histologically [12].…”

“…When recognised early, periodontal disease can be successfully treated in horses [9]. A recommended therapy involves cleaning and debridement followed by filling the interdental pockets in order to cover the inflamed tissue and to prevent reimpaction with food [7,11,13,14]. Several of the materials used to fill equine interdental pockets have been adopted from human medicine, and therefore, these materials were intended for other fields of applications.…”