A computed tomographic study of dental disease in cattle and their welfare impacts

Introduction: Horses require regular teeth rasping due to their hypsodont dentition. Cattle have similar dentition, and it is increasingly recognised that cattle suffer from dental disease leading to poor welfare. Little is known about the incidence of dental disease and of subocclusal dentine thickness in cattle cheek teeth. To determine if equine dental treatments are transferable to cattle a greater understanding of their tooth anatomy is required. We performed a cadaver head survey for dental disease and used computed tomography (CT) to measure subocclusal dentine thickness to determine if cattle can be safely rasped without exposing the pulp.

Methods: Eleven cattle cadaver heads were examined for dental pathology. A further ten heads were scanned using CT, and subocclusal dentine thickness was measured in all cheek teeth using a dedicated imaging software.

Results: All eleven cadaver heads had evidence of dental pathologies including sharp enamel edges, and seven had ulcerations of oral mucosa. Seven animals had one or more diastemas present; with or without impacted food, receded gums or periodontal pockets. The number of pulp horns in the premolars varied, while the molar teeth pulps showed minimal variation. The subocclusal dentine layer was on average between 3.9(+/-0.3) and 7.0(+/-1.2) mm in depth. The first and second molars had the thinnest subocclusal dentine thickness.

Conclusion: CT scanning of cadaver heads have allowed us to quickly, efficiently and accurately measure the thickness of the subocclusal dentine in cattle. The data is essential to develop dental treatments for cattle which will improve their welfare.