Risk factors associated with equine infundibular caries

Risk factors associated with equine infundibular caries | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Risk factors associated with equine infundibular caries Ove Wattle, Torbjörn Lundström, Agneta Egenvall, Dowen Birkhed This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3866761/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background Bacteria, diet and host factors play important roles for caries in humans. Streptococcus devriesei has been associated with infundibular caries in horses , a bacterial species that has similar properties to Streptococcus mutans that is associated with caries in humans. We investigated differences between two groups of horses, one with and one without maxillary P2 caries, to elucidate the relationship of caries to feeding regimes and environmental factors. Of all 71 horses included, 39 had the diagnoses of caries in the infundibula of the second maxillary molars (P2), and were presented at an animal dental clinic during a 6-month period. Matched by region, usage, discipline and date of examination controls (n=32), i.e. horseswith no signs of infundibular caries, were used as a comparison group. All owners filled in a questionnaire on feeding, type of use and environmental factors. Results: Significant differences between the two groups were found for four factors: In the caries group there was a higher presence of excessive tooth abrasion caused by the bit on P2s, and higher proportion of feed concentrate given to the horses; in the non-caries group, more horses spent time on pasture in the summer, and there was a higher proportion of horses with a post normal occlusion. There was no difference between groups regarding other types of forage. Conclusions: Tooth abrasion caused by the bit and too little time eating roughage were found to be risk factors connected with P2-infundibular caries in horses. These finding indicates that caries constitute a “multifactorial disease” in horses, as is the case in humans. Dietary habits Equine Horse Infundibular caries Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Background In humans, caries are described as a “multifactorial disease”, where three main factors interact: the host (tooth and saliva), the food and the bacteria [ 1 ]. Dental caries in horses are, like in humans, caused by acidogenic microorganisms that metabolise fermentable carbohydrates (sugars and starch) to acids, which lower the plaque-pH and thereby demineralise the hard tissues of the teeth (cementum, enamel and dentine) [ 2 ]. The maxillary cheek teeth (CT) have a different anatomy compared with the mandibular CT. Among other things, the former have two funnel shaped invaginations of enamel, infundibula, that are more or less filled by infundibular cementum on their occlusal surface. Thus, in horses, infundibular caries are only seen in maxillary check teeth (CT) [ 3 ]. The central part of the infundibula often has a cavity in the cementum, reflecting the occlusal blood supply to the cementoblasts prior to eruption [ 4 ]. This cavity, as well as tooth fissures or fractures, infundibular cementum hypoplasia and dysplastic tooth surfaces, may predispose maxillary CT to microbial colonisation and the development of dental caries [ 5 ]. The prevalence of infundibular caries seems to have increased among Swedish horses during recent decades [ 2 , 6 , 7 ]. The reason for the increase is not known but one possible factor may be changes in the composition of the microflora [ 8 ]. Horses with infundibular caries have a high number of Streptococcus devriesei , a bacterial species that has similar properties to Streptococcus mutans , which is associated with caries in humans [ 9 , 10 ]. Other reasons for an increase in prevalence of equine caries may be changed diets and living conditions. However, until now, there is limited information on the role of dietary habits related to caries in horses [ 11 ]. In humans, higher frequency intake (“snacking”) of sugars and other fermentable carbohydrates, like starch, is associated with more dental caries [ 12 , 13 ]. The “Vipeholm study”, carried out in Sweden over 60 years ago showed that sticky food eaten between meals increased the oral retention time, especially in predilection sites, giving the cariogenic bacteria excellent conditions for fermenting sugars into lactic acid and extracellular polysaccharides [ 14 , 15 ]. There are reasons to believe that diet and eating habits play a role for the development of caries in horses as they do in humans. We wanted to find out whether increased risk of developing infundibular caries is associated with type of feed, which sticks to the tooth surfaces, possible time spent eating and mechanical damages of the occlusal surface. The aim of the study was to compare feeding regimes and oral status of a group of horses with P2 infundibular caries with a matched caries-free population sampled during the same time period. Methods This study is partly based on the same material described by Lundström et al . [ 6 ]. Owner of horses that had their first visit at a dental animal clinic in Söderköping, Sweden, from March to October 2008, were eligible to fill in a questionnaire (Table 1). At this clinic, an experienced equine dentist, Torbjörn Lundström (TL) carried out general and oral anamnesis as well as general and oral clinical examinations, and administered the questionnaire. Each horse was given a sedative, detomidine (Domosedan®, Orion Pharma AB Animal Health, Sollentuna, Sweden) at 15 µg/kg body weight intravenously, and its head was rested on a support to facilitate the examination. A Haussmann mouth speculum was attached and the oral cavity rinsed with tap water. Type of occlusion was classified as normal, prenormal or postnormal. Bit related lesions such as abrasive damage of the occlusal surface on P2 caused by the bit, i.e. excessive abrasion, were also noted (Fig. 1 ). Using a dental mirror and optimal light conditions, carious lesions were defined as a “progressive decalcification and destruction of dental hard tissues” of at least one of the P2s infundibula. The lesions were classified using a 3-graded scale (Fig. 2 ). In all 3 grades, the lesions felt sticky when a dental probe was inserted towards the hard tissue surrounding the decay. Table 1. Questions posed to horse owners ___________________________________________________________________ 1. How long have you owned or been responsible for the horse? 2. Type of use: competition, pleasure, breeding? 3. Competition: dressage, show jumping, 3-day event, driving? 4. Feedstuff: What does the horse eat? Roughage: hay, hay silage, grass? Grains: oats, barley? All in one feeds: pellets, fortified hay cubes, extruded nuggets? Vitamin, protein and mineral supplements? Linseeds? By-product feed: Beet pulp? 5 Bedding: straw, wood shavings, peat, paper? 6 Pasture: Enclosed pasture/paddock? Type of ground: grass, grass-forest, forest, forest-dirt, dirt? Addition of feed in the pasture/paddock? 7. Does the horse wear a halter when in paddock/enclosed pasture? 8. Is it held on pasture for 24 hours in the summer? If yes, for how many weeks? 9. Type of bit material and bridle? _____________________________________________________________ Following oral examination, the animals were divided into two groups: 39 horses (55%) had infundibular caries in the second premolar (P2), and 32 (45%) had no signs of infundibular caries in any cheek tooth (control group). In addition to being free from infundibular caries, the control group was selected from the total number of caries-free horses examined within the study period and matched to the caries group according to where they lived (geographic region), age, and type of use. Questionnaire The owners were asked to fill in a standardised questionnaire with 9 questions (Table 1) which was given to them directly after the oral examination. Answers to some questions prompted follow-up questions and several alternatives could also be selected. To minimise misunderstanding, after the participants had filled in the form, TL checked the answers verbally with the owners. Statistical methods Utilizing SAS (version 9.4, SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, US), Fishers exact test was used to compare the two groups with respect to type of use, feedstuff, bedding, enclosed pasture/paddock, use of halter, age, dental occlusion, and type of bit and bridle. Answers to some questions were combined: stallions and geldings were combined into the male category. Under the heading feedstuff: hay, hay silage and grass were combined to roughage: oat and barley were combined to grains: pellets, fortified hay cubes and extruded nuggets were combined to all in one feeds, P < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. OR and their 95% Cis, were calculated. Results The caries group included 21 mares, 17 geldings and 1 stallion, aged 4–17 years old (mean age 8.4 and median 7 years) and comprised the following breeds: standardbreds (= 18), ponies (= 10), Icelandic horses (= 5), thoroughbreds (= 4) Arabian (= 1) and Quarter horses (= 1). The control group included 19 geldings and 13 mares, were 4–14 years old (mean age 8.6 and median 8 years) and comprised the following breeds: standardbreds (= 13), ponies (= 6), Icelandic horses (= 5), Arabians (= 4), thoroughbreds (= 2) and Quarter horses (= 2). Normal occlusion was significantly ( P < 0.001) more common among horses with infundibular P2- caries (72%) compared with the horses without infundibular caries (34%). Excessive abrasion from the mouthpiece was seen among 87% of the horses with P2-caries compared with 16% in the control group ( P < 0.001, Table 2 ). There was an even distribution of infundibular caries from grades 1, 2 and 3 among the 39 horses. All of these horses, independent of grade, showed some kind of clinical signs of uneasiness, such as unwillingness to eat and/or discomfort when ridden. Table 2 Number of horses with different types of occlusion, excessive attrition caused by the bit and grade of caries for both groups of horses. Group Sagittal relation/occlusion Attrition caused by bit (Bold figures) Caries grade Normal Prenormal Postnormal 1 2 3 Caries ( n = 39) 28 (26) 3 (2) 8 (6) 34 11 16 12 Control ( n = 32) 11 (3) 7 (0) 14 (2) 5 0 0 0 Number of horses with different types of occlusion, excessive attrition caused by the bit and grade of caries for both groups of horses. Bold values indicate the number of horses that had attrition caused by the bit Answers and associations between caries-status and the questions asked are shown in Table 3 . There were no missing values for any variables as TL verified all alternatives. There was no significant difference in the type of indoor bedding or type of outdoor ground between the groups, when excluding summer pasture (Table 4 ). Regarding type of food the horses were fed, there were some numerical, but no significant, differences between the two groups (Table 5 ). For horses let out on pasture, possible time spent grazing in the summer was around 10–12 hours/day in both groups. Significantly more ( P < 001) of the healthy horses (78%) were on pasture in the summer than horses with caries (41%, Table 5 ). Of the 25 control horses held on pasture in the summer, just 4 received additional feed which was significantly fewer ( P < 0.001) than the 11 of 16 horses with caries that received additional feed when on pasture (Table 6 ). Table 3 Association between caries-status and the questions asked Question No Cases No Controls OR 95% CI P-value 1. Type of use Competition Yes 22 20 0.78 (0.3, 2.0) 0.64 No 17 12 Pleasure Yes 16 12 1.16 (0.4, 3.0) 0.81 No 23 20 Breeding Yes 1 0 NA 1.00 No 38 32 2. Competition Dressage 0.00 Showjumping 3. Horse feed Hay Yes 28 24 0.85 (0.3, 2,5) 0.79 No 11 8 Silage Yes 17 20 0.46 (0.2, 1.2) 0.15 No 22 12 Grass Yes 4 1 3.54 (0.4, 33.4) 0.37 No 35 31 Oats or barley Yes 30 26 0.77 (0.2, 2.5) 0.77 No 9 6 Hay cubes Yes 32 20 2.74 (0.9, 8.1) 0.10 No 7 12 Added feedstuff Yes 11 4 2.75 (0.8, 9,7) 0.15 No 28 28 Vitamins/Mineral supplement Yes 36 27 2.22 (0.5, 10.1) 0.45 No 3 5 Linseed Yes 17 11 1.48 (0.6, 3.9) 0.47 No 22 21 4. Bedding Straw Yes 17 11 1.48 (0.6, 3.9) 0.47 No 22 21 Wood shavings Yes 18 19 0.59 (0.2, 1.5) 0.34 No 21 13 Peat Yes 5 2 2.21 (0.4, 12.2) 0.45 No 34 30 5. Year-around pasture Grass surface Yes 17 14 0.99 (0.4, 2.5) 1.00 No 22 18 Grass/forest surface Yes 2 10 0.12 (0.0, 0.6) 0.004 No 37 22 Forest surface Yes 3 3 0.81 (0.2, 4.3) 1.00 No 36 29 Forest/dirt Yes 0 1 NA 0.45 No 39 31 Dirt Yes 15 7 2.23 (0.8, 6.4) 0.20 No 24 25 6. Wear halter in paddock Yes 2 5 0.29 (0.1, 1.6) 0.23 or pasture No 37 27 7. Bit material Metal Yes 37 31 0.60 (0.1, 6.9) 1.00 No 2 1 Synthetic Yes 3 9 0.21 (0.1, 0.9) 0.03 No 36 23 Bitless Yes 4 8 0.34 (0.1, 1.3) 0.12 No 35 24 Table 4 Distribution of daily environment for the caries and control group. Type of box bedding Type of ground in paddock Straw Wood Peat Grass Grass/forest Forest Forest/dirt Dirt Caries ( n = 39) 17 (44%) 18 (34%) 5 (13%) 17 (44%) 2 (5%) 3 (8%) 0 (0%) 15 (38%) Control ( n = 32) 11 (34%) 19 (28%) 2 (6%) 14 (44%) 10 (31%) 3 (9%) 1 (3%) 7 (22%) Table 5 Distribution of different feeds for the caries and control group Hay silage Hay Grass Oat/Barley Pellets Fortified hay cubes Linseed Mineral Caries ( n = 39) 17 (44%) 28 (72%) 4 (10%) 30 (77%) 16 (41%) 32 (82%) 2 (5%) 36 (92%) Control ( n = 32) 20 (63%) 24 (75%) 1 (3%) 26 (81%) 8 (25%) 20 (63%) 6 (19%) 27 (84%) Table 6 Distribution of pasture in summer, type of use and bitting Pasture in summer Type of use Bitting Total no. With addition of feed Competition Pleasure Breed Metal Syn-thetic Bitless Halter Caries ( n = 39) 16 (41%) 11 (69%) 22 (56%) 16 (41%) 2 (5%) 37 (95%) 3 (8%) 4 (10%) 2 (5%) Control ( n = 32) 25 (78%) 4 (16%) 20 (63%) 12 (38%) 0 (0%) 31 (97%) 9 (28%) 8 (25%) 5 (16%) A majority of horses were used for competition, followed by pleasure, with about the same distribution in both groups (Table 6 ). The most common type of bitting material was metal and there was no significant difference regarding type of bitting (metal bit, synthetic bit, bitless and halter) between the two groups. Significant results were found for grass-forest surface and when a synthetic bit was used. A grass-forest surface protected against caries (odd ratio 0.1; 95% confidence interval 0-0.6, p = 0.0004), and the odds ratio for a synthetic bit was 0.2 (95% CI 0.1–0.9, p = 0.03). Discussion The prevalence of infundibular caries in Swedish horses has increased dramatically from 0.5% in the 1980´s [ 16 ] to around 15% today (unpublished data from the Animal Dental Clinic Sweden and Equine clinic at the University Animal Hospital). During this time period, there has been a change regarding horse husbandry in Sweden. Thus, many sport horses are today kept in small enclosures, often in an urban area, without the opportunity to spend long periods of time on pasture (Table 3 ). They used to be fed mainly with hay, some grains, vitamins and minerals, whereas nowadays they are fed roughage bought from feed manufacturers plus a lot of different commercial supplementary feed. To develop caries there needs to be an interaction between the host, oral microflora and substrate. This interaction for caries in humans, was presented more than 60 years ago [ 17 ]. Regarding the oral microflora, Streptococcus devriesei has been associated with infundibular caries in horses [ 6 ]. Furthermore, water quality, time spent on quality pasture and concentrate feeding are some dietary risk factors that have been associated with equine peripheral caries. Likewise, the presence of concurrent dental abnormalities and the presence of feedstuff between teeth have also been associated with- equine peripheral caries [ 18 , 19 ]. The latter emphasises the importance of mechanical cleaning of the teeth by normal masticatory performance and salivary secretion for the horses to stay free from extensive caries lesions. When comparing infundibular caries with peripheral caries, it’s been pointed out that if the imbalance between the causal factors could be restored, the peripheral cementum will be replaced in the clinical crown due to eruption [ 20 ]. The infundibulum cementum cannot be produced post eruption. Imbalance in the oral microflora, the type of food and the protecting properties of the saliva may lead to a lowering of the pH level surrounding the teeth, which can start a demineralisation of the dental hard tissues. This has been described in horses with unilateral injury of the parotid gland [ 21 ]. Dental cementum, which is exposed in the clinical crown of the hypsodont tooth, seems to have a higher critical pH compared with dentine and enamel. It has been suggested that the critical pH for cementum is around 6.7 [ 22 ], even though it has been proposed that the critical pH for root cementum in humans can be as low as 5.5 [ 23 ]. From a clinical perspective, equine dental decay starts in the cementum which is reasonable as the critical pH level of cementum is higher compared with dentine (~ 6.0) [ 24 ] and enamel (5.0–5.5) when there is normal production of saliva [ 25 , 26 ]. During normal mastication, horses produce massive volumes of saliva with high buffering capacity [ 21 ]. In order for bacteria to ferment feed/substrate to a pH sufficiently low that dental hard tissues dissolve, the food/substrate needs to be both retained on the tooth and inaccessible to the buffering capacity of the saliva. The finding in the present study that longer time on pasture showed a significant difference in favour of the healthy group of horses, suggests that saliva production and type of food is related to likelihood of caries. On pasture, large volumes of saliva would be stimulated over a longer time. Equine saliva has a pH of around 9 and contains high levels of bicarbonates, which provide a good local buffering capacity [ 27 ]. Horses´ long-duration spent searching and grazing is likely to promote a natural oral self-cleaning process of tooth surfaces in occlusion. The caries group of horses also had a higher intake of additional food/concentrates compared with the healthy horses. Excessive abrasion from the mouthpiece of the bit significantly increased the risk of developing infundibular caries (of the maxillary 06s). Excessive abrasion caused by the bit take that part of the tooth out of occlusion, i.e. it will not be cleaned during mastication of roughage. We suggest bit-related abrasion could be looked upon as microtrauma similar to small cracks, infundibular cemental hypoplasia or deep fissures that creates a favourable environment for bacteria and retention of foodstuff, i.e. creating a predilection site for caries. Foods which become sticky with the addition of saliva, such as many pelleted feeds/concentrates, will probably have increased adherence to tooth surfaces. Especially in occlusal defects, such as micro fractures and infundibular cementum hypoplasia. Consequently, the time for bacteria to produce acid can be prolonged with this type of food. Conclusions Equine infundibular caries appear to show similar aetiology as human dental caries. Imbalance between feeding regime (substrate), the tooth (host, saliva) and surrounding factors (microflora) can interact negatively and lead to the development of equine infundibular caries. Due to its multifactorial background, caries cannot be looked upon as a specific disease, but more as a complex condition with many different causal backgrounds. Declarations Authors’ contributions TL participated in the design of the study, carried out all data collection and drafted the manuscript. OW participated in the design of the study and drafted the manuscript. AE carried out the statistical analysis. DB participated in analysing the data and drafting the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript. Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank the staff at the animal dental clinic in Söderköping and the owners of the horses for their participation. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests Availability of data and materials The datasets analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Consent for publication Not applicable. Ethics approval The project was approved by Uppsala Ethical Committee of Animal Research, Dnr C 231/4. The owners of all horses were informed of the aim of the study and gave verbal consent to participate. Prior publication Data have not been published previously. Funding This study was co-funded by Djurtandvårdskliniken, Västra Husby, Sweden and Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. References Featherstone JD. Dental caries: a dynamic disease process. Aust Dent J. 2008;53:286–91. Borkent D, Dixon PM. 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Equine saliva components during mastication, and in vivo pH changes in the oral biofilm of sound and carious tooth surfaces after sucrose exposure. Acta Vet Scand. 2020. 10.1186/s13028-020-00518-2 . Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3866761","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":275632067,"identity":"745103c3-2214-4010-be9d-a342f7fe0bd8","order_by":0,"name":"Ove Wattle","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAxElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDADPgbmAwwPSNBgIMHGwJbAkECiFh4D4rTwSyQfYOap+VPHxt7z+UNiG4M9PyEtkjPSEph5jgFt4Tm7TQKoJXFmAyEXnTljwJzDBtQikbuNAaglweAAQS3nPzDn/ANqkX/zGOwwe4JajvcwMOe2gWzhYQA5jHEDQb+0txkc/ttnLNnGk2YmkXBOInEGIVv4mZkfPpzxTY6fn/3w4w8fymzs+RsIWQMEyMZKEKF+FIyCUTAKRgFBAAD3xzdO3lPIhQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6185-6828","institution":"Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet Veterinarmedicin och husdjursvetenskap","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ove","middleName":"","lastName":"Wattle","suffix":""},{"id":275632068,"identity":"12e26df2-a753-42b4-9a6e-3b7587722002","order_by":1,"name":"Torbjörn Lundström","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Djurtandvårdskliniken Söderköping","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Torbjörn","middleName":"","lastName":"Lundström","suffix":""},{"id":275632069,"identity":"251e4c67-4049-4f8e-b77e-dffa762f5826","order_by":2,"name":"Agneta Egenvall","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences: Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Agneta","middleName":"","lastName":"Egenvall","suffix":""},{"id":275632070,"identity":"14764fdf-f626-431f-bd98-ea4e9f909c90","order_by":3,"name":"Dowen Birkhed","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Fersens väg 14B, 211 42 Malmö","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Dowen","middleName":"","lastName":"Birkhed","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-01-15 14:13:58","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3866761/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3866761/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":52030175,"identity":"85466dfc-1f19-4178-8a94-f02854855b6f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-03-05 16:20:23","extension":"jpg","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1923371,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eExamples of excessive abrasion from the bit on 06s.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe bit has worn down the enamel ridges, dentin and cementum leaving a deformed and smooth occlusal surface locally. a, tooth 106, yellow arrow shows grade 2 caries in the rostral infundibulum. b, tooth 406 and c, 206.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure1.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3866761/v1/14e5bdc4d866d4c1e3633f4d.jpg"},{"id":52030178,"identity":"d138641d-7105-4fde-9a1f-721b1809a404","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-03-05 16:20:25","extension":"jpg","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1608900,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eIntraoral pictures of 206s.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ea, normal 206. Yellow arrows points on the vascular traces in the healthy rostral and caudal infundibula. b - d, Infundibular caries. b, grade 1 = decay involving cementum; c, grade 2 = decay involving cementum and enamel; d, grade 3 = decay involving cementum, enamel and dentine.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure2.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3866761/v1/27270e1c8b00d9f55ae912bc.jpg"},{"id":59104582,"identity":"00bd7723-ddff-4acc-9a8d-1b2f3d3327f1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-06-26 11:49:46","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":4283696,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3866761/v1/b66d691a-1368-4d4e-9e22-cd6e5d458b4e.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"Risk factors associated with equine infundibular caries","fulltext":[{"header":"Background","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn humans, caries are described as a \u0026ldquo;multifactorial disease\u0026rdquo;, where three main factors interact: the \u003cem\u003ehost\u003c/em\u003e (tooth and saliva), the \u003cem\u003efood\u003c/em\u003e and the \u003cem\u003ebacteria\u003c/em\u003e [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e]. Dental caries in horses are, like in humans, caused by acidogenic microorganisms that metabolise fermentable carbohydrates (sugars and starch) to acids, which lower the plaque-pH and thereby demineralise the hard tissues of the teeth (cementum, enamel and dentine) [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe maxillary cheek teeth (CT) have a different anatomy compared with the mandibular CT. Among other things, the former have two funnel shaped invaginations of enamel, infundibula, that are more or less filled by infundibular cementum on their occlusal surface. Thus, in horses, infundibular caries are only seen in maxillary check teeth (CT) [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e]. The central part of the infundibula often has a cavity in the cementum, reflecting the occlusal blood supply to the cementoblasts prior to eruption [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e]. This cavity, as well as tooth fissures or fractures, infundibular cementum hypoplasia and dysplastic tooth surfaces, may predispose maxillary CT to microbial colonisation and the development of dental caries [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe prevalence of infundibular caries seems to have increased among Swedish horses during recent decades [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e]. The reason for the increase is not known but one possible factor may be changes in the composition of the microflora [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e]. Horses with infundibular caries have a high number of \u003cem\u003eStreptococcus devriesei\u003c/em\u003e, a bacterial species that has similar properties to \u003cem\u003eStreptococcus mutans\u003c/em\u003e, which is associated with caries in humans [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e]. Other reasons for an increase in prevalence of equine caries may be changed diets and living conditions. However, until now, there is limited information on the role of dietary habits related to caries in horses [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn humans, higher frequency intake (\u0026ldquo;snacking\u0026rdquo;) of sugars and other fermentable carbohydrates, like starch, is associated with more dental caries [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e]. The \u0026ldquo;Vipeholm study\u0026rdquo;, carried out in Sweden over 60 years ago showed that sticky food eaten between meals increased the oral retention time, especially in predilection sites, giving the cariogenic bacteria excellent conditions for fermenting sugars into lactic acid and extracellular polysaccharides [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003e]. There are reasons to believe that diet and eating habits play a role for the development of caries in horses as they do in humans.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWe wanted to find out whether increased risk of developing infundibular caries is associated with type of feed, which sticks to the tooth surfaces, possible time spent eating and mechanical damages of the occlusal surface. The aim of the study was to compare feeding regimes and oral status of a group of horses with P2 infundibular caries with a matched caries-free population sampled during the same time period.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Methods","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis study is partly based on the same material described by Lundstr\u0026ouml;m \u003cem\u003eet al\u003c/em\u003e. [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e]. Owner of horses that had their first visit at a dental animal clinic in S\u0026ouml;derk\u0026ouml;ping, Sweden, from March to October 2008, were eligible to fill in a questionnaire (Table\u0026nbsp;1). At this clinic, an experienced equine dentist, Torbj\u0026ouml;rn Lundstr\u0026ouml;m (TL) carried out general and oral anamnesis as well as general and oral clinical examinations, and administered the questionnaire. Each horse was given a sedative, detomidine (Domosedan\u0026reg;, Orion Pharma AB Animal Health, Sollentuna, Sweden) at 15 \u0026micro;g/kg body weight intravenously, and its head was rested on a support to facilitate the examination. A Haussmann mouth speculum was attached and the oral cavity rinsed with tap water. Type of occlusion was classified as normal, prenormal or postnormal. Bit related lesions such as abrasive damage of the occlusal surface on P2 caused by the bit, i.e. excessive abrasion, were also noted (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). Using a dental mirror and optimal light conditions, carious lesions were defined as a \u0026ldquo;progressive decalcification and destruction of dental hard tissues\u0026rdquo; of at least one of the P2s infundibula. The lesions were classified using a 3-graded scale (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e). In all 3 grades, the lesions felt sticky when a dental probe was inserted towards the hard tissue surrounding the decay.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable 1. Questions posed to horse owners\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e___________________________________________________________________\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1. How long have you owned or been responsible for the horse?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2. Type of use: competition, pleasure, breeding?\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3. Competition: dressage, show jumping, 3-day event, driving?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4. Feedstuff: \u0026nbsp;What does the horse eat?\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRoughage: hay, hay silage, grass?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;Grains: oats, barley?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;All in one feeds: pellets, fortified hay cubes, extruded nuggets?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;Vitamin, protein and mineral supplements?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLinseeds? By-product feed: Beet pulp?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e5 Bedding: \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;straw, wood shavings, peat, paper?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e6 Pasture:\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;Enclosed pasture/paddock? \u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eType of ground: grass, grass-forest, forest, forest-dirt, dirt?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;Addition of feed in the pasture/paddock?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e7. Does the horse wear a halter when in paddock/enclosed pasture?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e8. Is it held on pasture for 24 hours in the summer? If yes, for how many weeks?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e9. Type of bit material and bridle?\u0026nbsp;\n\u003cbr\u003e_____________________________________________________________\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFollowing oral examination, the animals were divided into two groups: 39 horses (55%) had infundibular caries in the second premolar (P2), and 32 (45%) had no signs of infundibular caries in any cheek tooth (control group). In addition to being free from infundibular caries, the control group was selected from the total number of caries-free horses examined within the study period and matched to the caries group according to where they lived (geographic region), age, and type of use.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eQuestionnaire\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe owners were asked to fill in a standardised questionnaire with 9 questions (Table\u0026nbsp;1) which was given to them directly after the oral examination. Answers to some questions prompted follow-up questions and several alternatives could also be selected. To minimise misunderstanding, after the participants had filled in the form, TL checked the answers verbally with the owners.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eStatistical methods\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eUtilizing SAS (version 9.4, SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, US), Fishers exact test was used to compare the two groups with respect to type of use, feedstuff, bedding, enclosed pasture/paddock, use of halter, age, dental occlusion, and type of bit and bridle. Answers to some questions were combined: stallions and geldings were combined into the male category. Under the heading feedstuff: hay, hay silage and grass were combined to roughage: oat and barley were combined to grains: pellets, fortified hay cubes and extruded nuggets were combined to all in one feeds, \u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. OR and their 95% Cis, were calculated.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe caries group included 21 mares, 17 geldings and 1 stallion, aged 4\u0026ndash;17 years old (mean age 8.4 and median 7 years) and comprised the following breeds: standardbreds (=\u0026thinsp;18), ponies (=\u0026thinsp;10), Icelandic horses (=\u0026thinsp;5), thoroughbreds (=\u0026thinsp;4) Arabian (=\u0026thinsp;1) and Quarter horses (=\u0026thinsp;1). The control group included 19 geldings and 13 mares, were 4\u0026ndash;14 years old (mean age 8.6 and median 8 years) and comprised the following breeds: standardbreds (=\u0026thinsp;13), ponies (=\u0026thinsp;6), Icelandic horses (=\u0026thinsp;5), Arabians (=\u0026thinsp;4), thoroughbreds (=\u0026thinsp;2) and Quarter horses (=\u0026thinsp;2).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNormal occlusion was significantly (\u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001) more common among horses with infundibular P2- caries (72%) compared with the horses without infundibular caries (34%). Excessive abrasion from the mouthpiece was seen among 87% of the horses with P2-caries compared with 16% in the control group (\u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001, Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e). There was an even distribution of infundibular caries from grades 1, 2 and 3 among the 39 horses. All of these horses, independent of grade, showed some kind of clinical signs of uneasiness, such as unwillingness to eat and/or discomfort when ridden.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNumber of horses with different types of occlusion, excessive attrition caused by the bit and grade of caries for both groups of horses.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"8\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGroup\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSagittal relation/occlusion\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAttrition caused by bit\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(Bold figures)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c8\" namest=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCaries grade\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNormal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePrenormal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePostnormal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCaries (\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;39)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e28 \u003cb\u003e(26)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3 \u003cb\u003e(2)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8 \u003cb\u003e(6)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e34\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eControl (\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;32)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11 \u003cb\u003e(3)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7 \u003cb\u003e(0)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14 \u003cb\u003e(2)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e5\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003ctfoot\u003e \u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"8\"\u003eNumber of horses with different types of occlusion, excessive attrition caused by the bit and grade of caries for both groups of horses. Bold values indicate the number of horses that had attrition caused by the bit\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tfoot\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAnswers and associations between caries-status and the questions asked are shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e. There were no missing values for any variables as TL verified all alternatives. There was no significant difference in the type of indoor bedding or type of outdoor ground between the groups, when excluding summer pasture (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e). Regarding type of food the horses were fed, there were some numerical, but no significant, differences between the two groups (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e). For horses let out on pasture, possible time spent grazing in the summer was around 10\u0026ndash;12 hours/day in both groups. Significantly more (\u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;001) of the healthy horses (78%) were on pasture in the summer than horses with caries (41%, Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e). Of the 25 control horses held on pasture in the summer, just 4 received additional feed which was significantly fewer (\u003cem\u003eP\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001) than the 11 of 16 horses with caries that received additional feed when on pasture (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAssociation between caries-status and the questions asked\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"11\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c10\" colnum=\"10\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c11\" colnum=\"11\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eQuestion\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo Cases\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo Controls\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOR\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e95% CI\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eP-value\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1. Type of use\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCompetition\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.78\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.3,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.0)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.64\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePleasure\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.16\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.4,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.0)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.81\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e23\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBreeding\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNA\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e38\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2. Competition\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDressage\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.00\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eShowjumping\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3. Horse feed\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHay\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e24\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.85\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.3,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2,5)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.79\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSilage\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.46\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.2,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.2)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGrass\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.54\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.4,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e33.4)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.37\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e35\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e31\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOats or barley\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e30\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e26\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.77\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.2,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.5)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.77\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHay cubes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.74\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.9,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8.1)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAdded feedstuff\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.75\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.8,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9,7)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eVitamins/Mineral supplement\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e36\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e27\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.5,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10.1)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.45\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLinseed\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.48\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.6,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.9)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.47\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4. Bedding\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eStraw\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.48\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.6,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.9)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.47\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWood shavings\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e19\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.59\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.2,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.5)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.34\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePeat\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.21\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.4,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12.2)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.45\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e34\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e30\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5. Year-around pasture\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGrass surface\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.99\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.4,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.5)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGrass/forest surface\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.0,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.6)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e0.004\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e37\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e22\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eForest surface\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.81\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.2,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.3)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e36\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e29\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eForest/dirt\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNA\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.45\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e39\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e31\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDirt\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.23\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.8,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.4)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.20\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e24\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e25\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"4\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6. Wear halter in paddock\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.29\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.1,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.6)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.23\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eor pasture\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e37\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e27\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7. Bit material\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMetal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e37\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e31\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.60\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.1,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.9)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.00\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSynthetic\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.21\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.1,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.9)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e0.03\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e36\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e23\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBitless\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.34\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e(0.1,\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.3)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.12\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e35\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e24\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDistribution of daily environment for the caries and control group.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"9\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eType of box bedding\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"5\" nameend=\"c9\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eType of ground in paddock\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eStraw\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWood\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePeat\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGrass\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGrass/forest\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eForest\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eForest/dirt\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDirt\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCaries\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;39)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17 (44%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18 (34%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5 (13%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17 (44%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2 (5%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3 (8%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0 (0%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15 (38%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eControl\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;32)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11 (34%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e19 (28%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2 (6%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14 (44%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10 (31%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3 (9%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1 (3%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7 (22%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 5\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDistribution of different feeds for the caries and control group\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"9\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHay silage\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHay\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGrass\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOat/Barley\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePellets\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFortified\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ehay cubes\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLinseed\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMineral\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCaries\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;39)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17 (44%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e28 (72%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4 (10%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e30 (77%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16 (41%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32 (82%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2 (5%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e36 (92%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eControl\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;32)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20 (63%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e24 (75%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1 (3%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e26 (81%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8 (25%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20 (63%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6 (19%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e27 (84%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab5\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 6\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDistribution of pasture in summer, type of use and bitting\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"10\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c10\" colnum=\"10\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePasture in summer\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eType of use\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"4\" nameend=\"c10\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBitting\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTotal no.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWith addition of feed\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCompetition\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePleasure\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBreed\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMetal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSyn-thetic\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBitless\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHalter\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCaries\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;39)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16 (41%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11 (69%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e22 (56%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e16 (41%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2 (5%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e37 (95%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3 (8%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4 (10%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2 (5%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eControl\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(\u003cem\u003en\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;32)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e25 (78%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4 (16%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20 (63%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12 (38%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0 (0%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e31 (97%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9 (28%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8 (25%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5 (16%)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA majority of horses were used for competition, followed by pleasure, with about the same distribution in both groups (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e). The most common type of bitting material was metal and there was no significant difference regarding type of bitting (metal bit, synthetic bit, bitless and halter) between the two groups. Significant results were found for grass-forest surface and when a synthetic bit was used. A grass-forest surface protected against caries (odd ratio 0.1; 95% confidence interval 0-0.6, p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.0004), and the odds ratio for a synthetic bit was 0.2 (95% CI 0.1\u0026ndash;0.9, p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.03).\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe prevalence of infundibular caries in Swedish horses has increased dramatically from 0.5% in the 1980\u0026acute;s [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e] to around 15% today (unpublished data from the Animal Dental Clinic Sweden and Equine clinic at the University Animal Hospital). During this time period, there has been a change regarding horse husbandry in Sweden. Thus, many sport horses are today kept in small enclosures, often in an urban area, without the opportunity to spend long periods of time on pasture (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e). They used to be fed mainly with hay, some grains, vitamins and minerals, whereas nowadays they are fed roughage bought from feed manufacturers plus a lot of different commercial supplementary feed.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e To develop caries there needs to be an interaction between the host, oral microflora and substrate. This interaction for caries in humans, was presented more than 60 years ago [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e]. Regarding the oral microflora, \u003cem\u003eStreptococcus devriesei\u003c/em\u003e has been associated with infundibular caries in horses [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e]. Furthermore, water quality, time spent on quality pasture and concentrate feeding are some dietary risk factors that have been associated with equine peripheral caries. Likewise, the presence of concurrent dental abnormalities and the presence of feedstuff between teeth have also been associated with- equine peripheral caries [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e]. The latter emphasises the importance of mechanical cleaning of the teeth by normal masticatory performance and salivary secretion for the horses to stay free from extensive caries lesions. When comparing infundibular caries with peripheral caries, it\u0026rsquo;s been pointed out that if the imbalance between the causal factors could be restored, the peripheral cementum will be replaced in the clinical crown due to eruption [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e]. The infundibulum cementum cannot be produced post eruption.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e Imbalance in the oral microflora, the type of food and the protecting properties of the saliva may lead to a lowering of the pH level surrounding the teeth, which can start a demineralisation of the dental hard tissues. This has been described in horses with unilateral injury of the parotid gland [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e]. Dental cementum, which is exposed in the clinical crown of the hypsodont tooth, seems to have a higher critical pH compared with dentine and enamel. It has been suggested that the critical pH for cementum is around 6.7 [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e], even though it has been proposed that the critical pH for root cementum in humans can be as low as 5.5 [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e]. From a clinical perspective, equine dental decay starts in the cementum which is reasonable as the critical pH level of cementum is higher compared with dentine (~\u0026thinsp;6.0) [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e] and enamel (5.0\u0026ndash;5.5) when there is normal production of saliva [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e26\u003c/span\u003e]. During normal mastication, horses produce massive volumes of saliva with high buffering capacity [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e]. In order for bacteria to ferment feed/substrate to a pH sufficiently low that dental hard tissues dissolve, the food/substrate needs to be both retained on the tooth and inaccessible to the buffering capacity of the saliva.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe finding in the present study that longer time on pasture showed a significant difference in favour of the healthy group of horses, suggests that saliva production and type of food is related to likelihood of caries. On pasture, large volumes of saliva would be stimulated over a longer time. Equine saliva has a pH of around 9 and contains high levels of bicarbonates, which provide a good local buffering capacity [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003e]. Horses\u0026acute; long-duration spent searching and grazing is likely to promote a natural oral self-cleaning process of tooth surfaces in occlusion. The caries group of horses also had a higher intake of additional food/concentrates compared with the healthy horses.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eExcessive abrasion from the mouthpiece of the bit significantly increased the risk of developing infundibular caries (of the maxillary 06s). Excessive abrasion caused by the bit take that part of the tooth out of occlusion, i.e. it will not be cleaned during mastication of roughage. We suggest bit-related abrasion could be looked upon as microtrauma similar to small cracks, infundibular cemental hypoplasia or deep fissures that creates a favourable environment for bacteria and retention of foodstuff, i.e. creating a predilection site for caries.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFoods which become sticky with the addition of saliva, such as many pelleted feeds/concentrates, will probably have increased adherence to tooth surfaces. Especially in occlusal defects, such as micro fractures and infundibular cementum hypoplasia. Consequently, the time for bacteria to produce acid can be prolonged with this type of food.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusions","content":"\u003cp\u003eEquine infundibular caries appear to show similar aetiology as human dental caries. Imbalance between feeding regime (substrate), the tooth (host, saliva) and surrounding factors (microflora) can interact negatively and lead to the development of equine infundibular caries. Due to its multifactorial background, caries cannot be looked upon as a specific disease, but more as a complex condition with many different causal backgrounds.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthors\u0026rsquo; contributions\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTL participated in the design of the study, carried out all data collection and drafted the manuscript. OW participated in the design of the study and drafted the manuscript. AE carried out the statistical analysis. DB participated in analysing the data and drafting the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAcknowledgements\u0026nbsp;\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors wish to thank the staff at the animal dental clinic in S\u0026ouml;derk\u0026ouml;ping and the owners of the horses for their participation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCompeting interests\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe authors declare that they have no competing interests\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAvailability of data and materials\u0026nbsp;\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe datasets analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eConsent for publication\u0026nbsp;\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEthics approval\u0026nbsp;\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe project was approved by Uppsala Ethical Committee of Animal Research, Dnr C 231/4. The owners of all horses were informed of the aim of the study and gave verbal consent to participate.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePrior publication\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eData have not been published previously.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis study was co-funded by Djurtandv\u0026aring;rdskliniken, V\u0026auml;stra Husby, Sweden and Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFeatherstone JD. Dental caries: a dynamic disease process. Aust Dent J. 2008;53:286\u0026ndash;91.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBorkent D, Dixon PM. Equine peripheral and infundibular dental caries: A review and proposals for their investigation. Equine Vet Educ. 2015. \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003edoi.org/10.1111/eve.12497\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"10.1111/eve.12497\" targettype=\"DOI\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRamzan PH, Palmer L. The incidence and distribution of peripheral caries in the cheek teeth of horses and its association with diastemata and gingival recession. Vet J. 2011;190:90\u0026ndash;3.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDacre IT. Equine Dental Pathology. In: Baker GJ, Easley J, editors. Equine Dentistry. 2nd ed. Elsevier Saunders; 2005. pp. 99\u0026ndash;109.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRamzan PH, Palmer L. Occlusal fissures of the equine cheek tooth: prevalence, location and association with disease in 91 horses referred for dental investigation. Equine Vet J. 2010;42:124\u0026ndash;8.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLundstr\u0026ouml;m TS, Dahl\u0026eacute;n GS, Wattle OS. Caries in the infundibulum of the first upper premolar of the horse. Acta Vet Scand. 2007;49:10. \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003e10.1186/1751-0147-49-10\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"10.1186/1751-0147-49-10\" targettype=\"DOI\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGere I, Dixon PM. Post mortem survey of peripheral dental caries in 510 Swedish horses. Equine Vet J. 2010;42:310\u0026ndash;5.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCollins MD, Lundstr\u0026ouml;m T, Welinder-Olsson C, Hansson I, Wattle O, Hudson RA, Falsen E. Streptococcus devriesei sp. nov., from equine teeth. Syst Appl Microbiol. 2004;27:146\u0026ndash;50.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMarsh PD. Microbiologic aspects of dental plaque and dental caries. Dent Clin North Am. 1999;43:599\u0026ndash;614. v-vi.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTanzer JM, Livingston J, Thompson AM. The microbiology of primary dental caries in humans. J Dent Educ. 2001;65:1028\u0026ndash;37.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLundstr\u0026ouml;m TS, Birkhed D. Equine peripheral cemental defects and dental caries: Four case reports. Equine Vet Educ. 2020. \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003e10.1111/eve.13252\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"10.1111/eve.13252\" targettype=\"DOI\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLingstr\u0026ouml;m P, van Houte J, Kashket S. Food starches and dental caries. Crit Rev Oral Biol Med. 2000;11:366\u0026ndash;80.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSheiham A, James WP. Diet and dental caries: The pivotal role of free sugars reemphasized. J Dent Res. 2015;94:1341\u0026ndash;7.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGustafsson BE, Quensel CE, Lanke LS, et al. The Vipeholm dental caries study; the effect of different levels of carbohydrate intake on caries activity in 436 individuals observed for five years. Acta Odontol Scand. 1954;11:232\u0026ndash;64.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNewbrun E. Sucrose, the arch criminal of dental caries. Odontol Revy. 1967;18:373\u0026ndash;86.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLundstr\u0026ouml;m T, Pettersson H. Oral status of Swedish horses. Svensk Veterinar Tidning. 1988;40:247\u0026ndash;52. (In Swedish).\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKeys PH. The infectious and transmissible nature of experimental dental caries. Findings and implications. Arch Oral Biol. 1960;1:304\u0026ndash;20.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJackson K, Kelty E, Tennant M. Equine peripheral dental caries: An epidemiological survey assessing prevalence and possible risk factors in Western Australian horses. Equine Vet J. 2018;50:79\u0026ndash;84.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBorkent D, Reardon JM, McLachlan G, Smith S, Dixon PM. An epidemiological survey on the prevalence of equine peripheral dental caries in the United Kingdom and possible risk factors for its development. Equine Vet J. 2017;49:480\u0026ndash;85.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJackson K, Kelty E, Tennant M. A new equine peripheral caries grading system: Are the caries likely active or inactive? 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J Can Dent Assoc. 2003;69:722\u0026ndash;4.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLundstr\u0026ouml;m T, Lingstr\u0026ouml;m P, Wattle O, Carl\u0026eacute;n A, Birkhed D. Equine saliva components during mastication, and in vivo pH changes in the oral biofilm of sound and carious tooth surfaces after sucrose exposure. Acta Vet Scand. 2020. \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003e10.1186/s13028-020-00518-2\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"10.1186/s13028-020-00518-2\" targettype=\"DOI\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Dietary habits, Equine, Horse, Infundibular caries","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3866761/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3866761/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBackground\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBacteria, diet and host factors play important roles for caries in humans. \u003cem\u003eStreptococcus devriesei\u003c/em\u003e has been associated with infundibular caries in horses\u003cem\u003e, \u003c/em\u003ea bacterial species that has similar properties to \u003cem\u003eStreptococcus mutans \u003c/em\u003ethat is associated with caries in humans. We investigated differences between two groups of horses, one with and one without maxillary P2 caries, to elucidate the relationship of caries to feeding regimes and environmental factors.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOf all 71 horses included, 39 had the diagnoses of caries in the infundibula of the second maxillary molars (P2), and were presented at an animal dental clinic during a 6-month period. Matched by region, usage, discipline and date of examination controls (n=32), i.e. horseswith no signs of infundibular caries, were used as a comparison group. All owners filled in a questionnaire on feeding, type of use and environmental factors.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSignificant differences between the two groups were found for four factors: In the caries group there was a higher presence of excessive tooth abrasion caused by the bit on P2s, and higher proportion of feed concentrate given to the horses; in the non-caries group, more horses spent time on pasture in the summer, and there was a higher proportion of horses with a post normal occlusion. There was no difference between groups regarding other types of forage.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusions:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTooth abrasion caused by the bit and too little time eating roughage were found to be risk factors connected with P2-infundibular caries in horses. These finding indicates that caries constitute a “multifactorial disease” in horses, as is the case in humans.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Risk factors associated with equine infundibular caries","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-03-05 16:20:09","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3866761/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"f90730b4-da2b-47a5-bd71-72caa8b0a37e","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 5th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-06-26T11:41:38+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-03-05 16:20:09","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-3866761","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-3866761","identity":"rs-3866761","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}