Peripheral caries and disease of the periodontium in Western Australian horses: An epidemiological, anatomical and histopathological assessment.

Abstract: Peripheral caries may cause significant oral pain and pathology and is very prevalent within the Western Australia horse population. Associations with periodontal disease have been indicated; however, further work is needed to assess the anatomical and histological aspects of the conditions, to better understand the pathophysiology. Objective: To assess the anatomical and histopathological changes associated with equine cheek teeth peripheral caries and disease of the periodontium to better understand the pathogenesis and any association between the conditions. Methods: Cross-sectional epidemiological and histological study. Methods: A survey of 500 Western Australia horses was performed to assess the prevalence of peripheral caries and associations with other dental pathologies within the Western Australia horse population. Histopathological assessment was also performed on four extracted cheek teeth affected by peripheral caries and on three interdental areas from an abattoir specimen affected by peripheral caries and interdental feed accumulation. Results: There was a significant association between peripheral caries and cheek teeth interdental feed accumulation and gingival recession. This association was significantly stronger in the mandibular cheek teeth than the maxillary cheek teeth and also in horses with moderate or severe peripheral caries compared to horses with mild peripheral caries. Histopathological examination found caries lesions consistent with those found in humans above the gingival margin. Sub-gingivally, however, the cementum and periodontal structures were normal. In the samples with concurrent peripheral caries and deep feed-pocketing, there was significant gingival recession; however, only mild or no histopathological changes occurred in the gingiva. Conclusions: Small sample size for histopathological assessment. Conclusions: Horses with peripheral caries, and in particular, horses with mandibular cheek teeth with peripheral caries are significantly more likely to also be affected by disease of the periodontium than horses without peripheral caries.