Abstract
The objective of this study was to quantify the wear of the upper central incisors in stabled and crib-biting Thoroughbred race horses. The sixteen horses located at the Club Hipico Concepcion were divided into 2 groups: control (non crib-biting) (n=7) and crib-biting affected (n=9) one. All horses had no access to pasture. A shallow horizontal incision of 5 mm long was made in the labial face of 101 and 201 dental pieces, using a triangular file, at 10 mm from the occlusal edge. The distance from the occlusal edge to the incision was measured again after six months, to determine wear. Results are expressed as the average and standard deviations from wearing measurements. To compare the wear between the two groups, the Student’s t-test was carried out with a p<0.05 significance level . The average wear in the control group was 0.43±0.51 mm. The average wear in the crib-biting group was 2.72±0.89 mm. Wear was significantly higher in crib-biting group (p<0.0001). This study shows that crib-biting Thoroughbred stabled horses’ incisive teeth wearing is at least double the normal wear rate, which could affect the grazing capacity of the animals in the future.
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