Permanent Tooth Eruption Patterns in Nigerian Local Pigs

Pigs are diphyodonts with heterodont dentition and have been used in studies involving teeth and jawbone regeneration, and dental implants. Patterns of tooth eruption are used to age animals and determine the effects of environmental and genetic influences on occurrence of variations. As with other species, variations exist in the tooth eruption pattern in pigs. The aim of this study was to determine the permanent teeth eruption patterns of Nigerian local pigs. Twenty-six healthy pigs were observed throughout the study period. Pigs were firmly held in dorsal or lateral recumbency and their mouths gently held open to visually examine all quadrants of the dental arches (right and left maxillary, right and left mandibular). Observations were recorded from 16 weeks of age, until the last permanent tooth erupted. Results obtained from the study showed that males had lower mean values for eruption time (54%) of examined teeth in comparison to females. The mean values of eruption time for the maxillary third incisor, the mandibular and maxillary canines, and the mandibular fourth premolar teeth were statistically significant in the males (P = .0017, P = .0088, P = .0002 and P = .0244, respectively). Sixty-nine percent of the adult pigs did not have eruption of the mandibular first premolar, while polydontia was observed in the maxillary and mandibular incisors. These results show that intra-breed and inter-breed variations exist in the dental eruption pattern in pigs. The data obtained from this study can be used for comparative dental studies and can aid further research on the developmental anatomy of Nigerian local pigs.

Dental Disorders in Wild and Domestic Pigs (Sus Scrofa): A Review

Teeth in the mouth of vertebrates represent the modified descendants of bony dermal plates of ancestral fishes. Dental disorders, which are deviations of dental tissues origins, are derived from any or all of the dental tissues; enamel, dentin or cementum, and include dental abnormalities and diseases. These disorders can be influenced by genetic or environmental factors, or an interplay of both factors. This article reviews disorders that have been reported in both wild and domestic pigs and the frequency of occurrence of these conditions.

A study of some rostrofacial indices related to regional anaesthesia of the porcine: implications as an animal model for dental research

There has been a widespread use of pigs in medical and biomedical training and research due to many similarities in the morphophysiology of tissues between swine and humans The aim of this study was to measure some rostrofacial indices of some indigenous pigs in Nigeria, with a view to providing basic information on some clinically important parameters. Using 26 pigs, the mean values for the mandibular lenghts MDL-1 and MDL-2 were 16.74±1.76cm and 15.98±2.32cm for the males and 18.03±3.04 and 17.07±2.54 for the females. The mean distance of the infraorbital foramen to the root of the alveolus of premolar three was relatively constant between sexes and age group however, significant differences was found in the distance between the medial mental foramen and the mandibular foramen, between age group within sexes. Several lateral foramina were observed on either side of the bodies of the mandibles, with an average of 6 in the males and 7 in the females with the implications for anaesthesia discussed. With increasing use of the porcine species as experimental models for improvement of human dental implants, this work will further aid the knowledge of the regional anaesthesia of this species in dental implant studies and could be of value in the surgical intervention of priced animals.