Abrasion of ovine teeth from high-wear and low-wear farms

Abstract

A method for abrading ovine teeth has been developed and used to compare the abrasion resistance of ovine central incisors from farms with widely differing tendencies to tooth wear. Differences between the mean tooth abrasion values for farms were small and did not support the hypothesis that there is an intrinsic factor in some ovine teeth contributing to excessive wear. The abrasion resistance of central incisors varies little from sheep to sheep. Dentine resists abrasion as effectively as enamel.

Keywords:

• sheep
• teeth
• tooth wear