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Dental exam shows a Infundibulum in my horses tooth. Is this common or?

Posted by Phoenix on 4/10/2012, 9:41 am

should I be concerned. I plan on calling the vet to get his opinion. I just wanted to ask the BAENer's for their excellent opinion as well.

Re: Dental exam shows a Infundibulum in my horses tooth. Is this common or?

Posted by Gail Ivey on 4/10/2012, 10:39 am, in reply to "Dental exam shows a Infundibulum in my horses tooth. Is this common or?"
66.245.25.244

I would ask Jerry Schmidt about it. Horse teeth are not like human teeth, so this may be a common thing. holstein01@msn.com
"Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for." -
Socrates

I googled and found this (link)

Posted by datsundriver on 4/10/2012, 7:15 pm, in reply to "Dental exam shows a Infundibulum in my horses tooth. Is this common or?"

Along with a lot of other very complicated articles. My head spins.
I selected this article because it was short but I still don't know what it means Maybe someone can explain it to me as if I were 8 years old.
The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. -Albert Einstein
Situs: El Granada, San Mateo County, CA - 5 miles north of Half Moon Bay

Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17391523

Which tooth?

Posted by Guinny1 on 4/10/2012, 9:44 pm, in reply to "Dental exam shows a Infundibulum in my horses tooth. Is this common or?"

Are you looking at an incisor?

Infundibulae are viewable in the incisors and upper cheek teeth. The infundibulae in the incisors are also known as the "mark" and it will disappear from the incisors in the following pattern (which is generalized): 13 years from lower centrals, 14 years from lower intermediates, 15 years from lower corners, 16 years from upper centrals, 17 years from upper intermediates, and 18 years from upper corners.

Although it is hard to explain this stuff without an image.

How old is the horse in question? I can give you a general idea what you would be looking at in a general (don't want to say "normal" because what is normal for one may be different than what is normal for another) for a horse of that age.

It says Rostally 103 + 203, 303 +404

Posted by Phoenix on 4/11/2012, 9:25 am, in reply to "Which tooth? "
24.130.88.166

I do have a message in to talk to the vet.

And how old is the horse? nm

Posted by Guinny1 on 4/11/2012, 9:29 am, in reply to "It says Rostally 103 + 203, 303 +404"
184.8.107.65

He is 12 yrs old

Posted by Phoenix on 4/11/2012, 11:01 am, in reply to "And how old is the horse? nm"
24.130.88.166

Whoops...edited because I had a brain fart.

Posted by Guinny1 on 4/11/2012, 9:36 am, in reply to "It says Rostally 103 + 203, 303 +404"

The infundibulae are caudal to the dental star-which is a dark spot of stained dentin that back fills the pulp chamber as the tooth erupts. By the time the horse is 11 years old, all the "cups" are gone from the incisors....this is the open end of the infundibulae.

404? That is a canine tooth. I can do some more research, but off the top of my head, I don't believe there are any infundibulae present in the canine teeth.
Is this person looking at open pulp chambers? Because infundibulae are behind or caudal to the pulp chambers.

Where did this information come from?

It is hard to read the vets writing. It might say 308 + 408

Posted by Phoenix on 4/11/2012, 11:06 am, in reply to "Whoops...edited because I had a brain fart. "
24.130.88.166

Does that make more sense? It also says after Rostally..suspect congenital. I know I already lost a sale. I am more concerned if this might be something I should worry about.

Well....

Posted by Guinny1 on 4/11/2012, 11:30 am, in reply to "It is hard to read the vets writing. It might say 308 + 408"
184.8.107.65

308 and 408 are lower premolars. Lower cheek teeth do not have infundibulae.

There are congenital defects where the horse does not produce the dentin required to back fill the pulp chamber as the tooth erupts. Thus leaving exposed pulp chambers. This can be problematic.

However, the pulp chamber in a tooth and the infundibulum in a tooth are 2 totally separate structures.

I have a sneaking suspicion that you may want to contact a either a veterinarian who specializes in dentistry or a dental practitioner. I've spent 300 hours at the Academy of Equine Dentistry in Idaho...I don't know a lot, but I know that whatever your vet wrote (as has been transcribed here including the difficulty in reading the writing) does not add up. And you shouldn't lose a sale based on misleading/incorrect information from someone (even a veterinarian) who does not have training in dentistry.