Dental wear in horses in relation to the microhardness of enamel and dentine

The microhardness of enamel, primary dentine and secondary dentine was dete rmined in the incisor teeth of 39 horses of three different breeds, trotter horses, Belgian draft horses and Arab horses. Using a microhardness tester fitted with a Knoop diamond indenter, the overall Knoop Hardness Number wa s determined for each tissue, and the influences of breed and age on the ha rdness were evaluated. Enamel and secondary dentine were significantly hard er in Arab horses than in trotters and Belgian draft horses, but there were no significant differences between draft horses and trotter horses in the hardness of their enamel and dentine.