Dental resorption in an old pony: Case report

A 22 year old pony with poor body condition and pain due to severe resorption of the mandibular incisors with only fragments of the teeth remaining is described. The most severely damaged teeth were extracted, and the pony did well for 17 months, but then continued resorption in the maxillary incisors, which was seen at first presentation, became a problem due to periodontitis and pain. Intra oral radiography, computer tomography and histopathology were used to document the tooth resorption. In this case resorption was demonstrated but there was no cemental thickening evident. Progression of the odontoclastic resorption of the incisors was followed with repeated radiographs over 17 months. Correspondence to: Jens Arnbjerg, DVM. DiplECVDI, Associate professor, University of Copenhagen, Sund, University Hospital for Companion Animals, Department of Veterinary Clinical and Animal Sciences, Dyrlaegevej 32, 1870 Frederiksberg C, Denmark, Tel: +45 35332921; Fax: +45 35332929; E-mail: [email protected] Received: April 20, 2016; Accepted: May 19, 2016; Published: May 23, 2016 Introduction Since the very complete description by Staszyk et al. in 2008 [1] of Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hypercementosis (EOTRH) in the horse a few papers [2-4] have described clinical follow up and histories in similar cases. There has been very little variation in the description of the disease and a combination of hypercementosis and resorption is invariably reported [1-6] there are reports where radiography has been used over several months in this disease to observe progression over time. Foster et al. [3] found that odontoclastic tooth resorption and hypercementosis has a low prevalence in horses up to 15 years of age but Lorello et al. [4] claim it is an overlooked and underdiagnosed problem, which is best treated by extraction of the affected incisors in older horses (17 – 29 years) especially geldings. Root resorption without hypercementosis has been described in dogs [7], cats [8] and tapir [9]. This case-report describes odontoclastic resorption without hypercementosis in a 22 year old Icelandic Pony followed for 17 months by means of repeated radiography and histopathology examination. It illustrates the development of the pathological processes and the response to treatment.