Content area
Full Text
There is a tribological root to the proverb "don't look a gift horse in the mouth." The proverb first appeared in print during the 5th Century within St. Jerome's Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians as "Noli equi dentes inspicere donate." Its meaning is a warning not to appear ungrateful by seeking the value of a gift, exemplified by inspecting the wear of a gifted horse's teeth to determine its age (value).
An age determination is not at all difficult for very young horses; one only has to look at which teeth are present to obtain a reasonable estimate. According to equine dentists, between 2.5-5 years of age horses lose 24 deciduous teeth and erupt 36-44 teeth. Once these adult teeth erupt, they will continue to grow with age.
This continued growth is mostly offset by wear, though the combination of growth and a little recession to the gums gave rise to another equine idiom indicating advanced age: "long in the tooth." As the horse's teeth wear, several observable patterns commensurate with age emerge on the occlusal surfaces of the incisors. Occlusal is the surface...