Abstract
Background: Equine maxillary cheek teeth infundibulae are frequently affected by developmental and acquired disorders, but the computed tomographic (CT) imaging features of normal and abnormal infundibulae remain incompletely understood.Objective: To examine infundibulae with various grades of occlusal caries and control teeth by standard CT in order to assess the prevalence, type and location of subocclusal infundibular lesions present.Study design: Ex vivo original study.Methods: One hundred maxillary cheek teeth, including 82 with, and 18 without infundibular occlusal caries, were extracted from horses of different ages and imaged by standard CT; 8 teeth were also imaged by MicroCT. Images were later assessed by Osirix® and the prevalence, characteristics and sites of infundibular lesions were assessed.Results: Teeth with shorter infundibulae (i.e., Triadan 09 position and older teeth) were more likely to have occlusal caries, as were the rostral infundibulae. Subocclusal developmental infundibular lesions, including cemental hypoplasia and caries, were present in 72% of infundibulae without occlusal caries. CT imaging confirmed two main patterns of developmental cemental hypoplasia, i.e., apical cemental hypoplasia usually involving the full width of the apical aspect of the infundibulum and central linear hypoplasia involving the central aspect of the infundibulum over most of its length, and combinations of these types. These developmental lesions could later be affected by (acquired) infundibular caries once occlusally exposed due to normal wear. Some “normal-sized” (i.e., circa 1 mm diameter) occlusal central vascular channels expanded subocclusally to the dimensions of central linear defects.Main Limitations: No clinical histories or accurate ages were available for these teeth.Conclusions: Hypoplastic cemental lesions, including at central linear, and apical sites, are common even in clinically normal maxillary cheek teeth infundibulae and caries can occur when these lesions contact the occlusal surface. Central linear defects are not always clearly distinguishable from “normal” central vascular channels.
Highlights
Equine maxillary cheek teeth each contain two infundibulae that provide additional occlusal enamel ridges to help crush the fibrous, cellulose-containing equine diet
When the rostral and caudal infundibulae were paired by tooth and the differences in their occlusal caries grade tested, the rostral infundibulae were significantly more frequently affected by higher grades of caries than the caudal infundibulae (p = 0.02)
This study confirmed the predisposition of the 09 Triadan position to develop occlusal infundibular caries and for the rostral infundibulae to be more commonly and severely affected with occlusal infundibular caries than the caudal infundibulae
Summary
Equine maxillary cheek teeth each contain two infundibulae that provide additional occlusal enamel ridges to help crush the fibrous, cellulose-containing equine diet. Anatomical [1, 2] and computed tomographic (CT) studies [3,4,5,6] have shown that up to 90% of equine cheek teeth infundibulae, in particular the rostral (mesial) infundibulae of the Triadan 09 position, are incompletely filled with normal cementum, that ideally should be present These infundibular cemental defects, mainly developmental in origin, include the very common presence of a small central cemental defect, the site of a previous blood vessel variously termed the “vascular channel,” “central vascular channel,” or “central linear defect” for much of the length of the infundibulum. Equine maxillary cheek teeth infundibulae are frequently affected by developmental and acquired disorders, but the computed tomographic (CT) imaging features of normal and abnormal infundibulae remain incompletely understood
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