Scientists have found the earliest evidence of veterinary dentistry

3,000 years ago, a horse in Mongolia had toothache, which probably caused it and its owner pain. So the horse's owner tried to help - sawing off the top of the horse's painful front teeth. According to a new study, the "surgery" may be one of the world's first veterinary dental evidence, and the practice it produces may have helped the horse change human civilization.
"This is an important research result. Robin Bendrey, an archaeologist and expert on ancient horses at the University of Edinburgh who was not involved in the study, said. Bendrey points out that as horses become more important, herders "are putting more effort into understanding how to take care of them."
Taylor, an archaeologist at the Institute of Human History and Science at the Mapu Society in Jena, Germany, first stumbled upon the strange sawn-off tooth in the collection of the Mongolian National Museum in Ulaanbaata. "I can't find a reasonable explanation for this tooth." He said.
Taylor turned to his Mongolian colleagues, archaeologists Jamsranjav Bayarsaikhan and Tumurbaatar Tuvshinjargal, who grew up in rural Mongolia with first-hand knowledge of traditional animal husbandry.
team eventually concluded that sawtooth is an early but not necessarily effective form of dentistry. The team reported on July 2nd
that the tooth was crooked and likely to cause pain to the horse. But unlike pulling the front tooth out completely, the saw marks on the teeth suggest that ancient herders tried to cut off the top of it to restore a flat chewing surface. This process may not work, as herders only saw the tooth in half. Shortly thereafter, the horse was used for sacrifice and buried at the ceremony.
with another cut tooth from the same period found nearby, the study shows that 2,000 years after the horse was first domesticated, people are still looking for the best way to treat their teeth with basic stone tools.
taylor and colleagues found that dental care for Mongolian horses became more systematic over time. Many of the horse skulls studied by scientists 3,000 years ago still have their "wolf teeth" - small, pointed teeth that grow in the gap between the front of the horse's mouth and its cheeks. Wolf teeth are a relic of evolution, and horses no longer use them to chew, and many horses don't even develop wolf teeth.
in today's horses, when wolf teeth grow, they take up some space to place horse chews. The contact between these teeth and metal riding gear can cause pain and tooth damage, so Western veterinarians and Mongolian herders usually pull out these teeth.
but when ancient herders first dabbled in horse dentistry, riding equipment was made of leather. Due to the use of softer equipment, early domesticated horses can retain their wolf teeth.
taylor's team examined almost all horses after 750 D.D. without wolf teeth. In many horse skulls, they can see a healed hole where a wolf's tooth is pulled out. This shift coincides with the use of bronze and iron products in Mongolia, which gives riders more control over their horses, but it also means that wolf teeth have to be removed.
"they are adapting to new ways of riding and new ways of raising horses. Alan Outram, an archaeologist at the University of Exeter in the UK who studied the domestication of horses but was not involved in the study, said: "People are very innovative. Without
, world history could be very different. Metal horse chews allowed herders to use horses in war and make long journeys, shaping Mongolia and its nomadic culture, eventually leading to the rise of Genghis Khan's army and the Mongol Empire's control of much of Eurasia in the 13th century.
horse has definitely turned Mongolia into the cultural and economic center of the world. Taylor said. (Source: Zhao Xixi, China Science Daily)