Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Acta Vet Scand. 2012 Apr 5;54(1):23. doi: 10.1186/1751-0147-54-23.
Piglets are born with eight sharp teeth that during nursing can cause facial lesions on littermates and teat lesions on the sow. Teeth grinding in piglets is therefore often practiced to reduce these lesions. The aim of this study was to assess the consequences of grinding piglet teeth in regard to the occurrence of lesions.In this study the piglets' teeth were grinded in 28 litters, and in 36 litters the piglets' teeth were kept intact. Twice, one time during the first week and one time during the second week after birth facial lesions of the piglets were scored and the teats of the sows were examined for lesions. The facial lesion score accounted for the amount and severity of lesions. The individual observations on piglets in the litter were synthesized in a litter facial lesion score.
69.8% and 43.5% of the piglets had facial lesions in week 1 and week 2 respectively. The effect of treatment was not significant on litter facial lesion score. The litter facial lesion score was higher in week 1 than in week 2 (p < 0.001) and higher in large litters (p = 0.003) than in small litters. Mortality between week 1 and week 2 was higher in litters with intact teeth (p = 0.02). Sow teat lesions only occurred if litters had intact teeth.
According to our results teeth grinding is only justifiable in large litters.
仔猪出生时就有八颗锋利的牙齿，在哺乳期间可能会导致同窝仔猪面部损伤和母猪乳头损伤。因此，仔猪经常被磨牙以减少这些损伤。本研究旨在评估磨牙对仔猪损伤发生的影响。
在这项研究中，28 窝仔猪的牙齿被打磨，36 窝仔猪的牙齿保持完整。在出生后的第一周和第二周，两次对仔猪的面部损伤进行评分，并检查母猪的乳头是否有损伤。面部损伤评分反映了损伤的数量和严重程度。对同窝仔猪的个体观察结果综合为同窝仔猪面部损伤评分。
分别有 69.8%和 43.5%的仔猪在第 1 周和第 2 周出现面部损伤。处理对同窝仔猪面部损伤评分的影响不显著。第 1 周的同窝仔猪面部损伤评分高于第 2 周（p<0.001），大窝仔猪的评分高于小窝仔猪（p=0.003）。第 1 周和第 2 周之间，牙齿完整的仔猪死亡率更高（p=0.02）。只有在同窝仔猪牙齿完整的情况下，才会出现母猪乳头损伤。
根据我们的结果，磨牙仅在大窝中是合理的。
