ORIGINAL RESEARCH Studies on dentition and oral disorders of Camels in Maiduguri Abattoir, Borno State, Nigeria Chinedu Athanasius Eze & Simon S. Adamu & Mohammed M. Bukar Accepted: 28 November 2007 / Published online: 10 May 2012 # Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012 Abstract Camelus dromedarius dental disorders were surveyed using abattoir samples from Maiduguri, Nigeria. A total of 313 heads, were randomly examined. The age and sex of the heads were estimated using standard methods and disorders were observed following the split of the oral commissure. Heads with multiple disorders were counted once and of 313 heads, 114 (41.67 %) and 199 (58.33 %) were males and females, respectively. Heads aged <5 years was 18.21 %; 5– 10 years, 44.41 %; and >15 years was 37.38 %. Whereas 22.61 % of the total heads had one disorder or another, 7.98 and 14.06 % of the disorders belonged to male and female heads, respectively. The prevalence rate of the disorders observed include dental tartar and calculus (5.42 %), inward rotation of incisors (2.87 %), fractured teeth (7.66 %), maleruption (0.31 %), oligo- dontia (0.31 %), gingivitis (4.15 %), ulcerated cheek (0.63 %), and presence of foreign body(0.31 %) in the mouth. Prevalence rate of oral-cavity abnormalities in relation to age of the total heads is 5.75, 5.11, and 10.54 % for animals <5, between 5 and 10 years, and 10–15 years, respectively. Furthermore, heads that were affected with various types of disorders are 31.58 % (<5 years of age), 11.51 % (aged 5–10 years), and 28.21 % (>15 years). The study serves as a call for increased oral-cavity health care of camels. Keywords Abattoir . Camelus dromedarius . Dentition . Nigeria . Oral cavity Introduction The one-humped camels (Camelus dromedarius) are multi- purpose animals, found all over much of the and semi-arid tropics (Burgemeister 1978; Wilson 1984; Rathore 1986; Ismail 1987; Wilson 1997). The females are used primarily as milk producers, males are used for transport or draught and both sexes provide meat as a tertiary product (Wilson 1984). Camels are classified based on geographical location, tribal ownership, body color, and quantitative production parameters leading to confusion in the classification of the various breeds (Murray 1997). Nigeria has an estimated indigenous population of 350,000 camels (Rathore 1986). According to Ghaji and Adogwa (1986), most of the camels (one to five per herd) are raised on a free-range basis, allowed to roam freely in search of food. They are however herded in the rainy season. General examination of the mouth and dentition of large animals can yield useful medical information (Blood et al. 1979). Jubb et al. (1993) reported that dental disease is com- mon in animals and often is the major factor which limits the useful life span. The dental abnormalities may be develop- mental, degenerative, metabolic, infectious, or traumatic (Jubb et al. 1993; Venugopolan 1994). The ultimate effects of dental disease are unthriftness, loss of condition, and poor perfor- mance at work, decreased nursing, milk and meat production resulting from poor prehension and improper mastication. Poor performance leads to early slaughter and financial loss to the farmer (Dubielzig 1988; Kene and Agbo 1998; Kene and Uwagie-ero 2001). Most Camels in Nigeria are owned by the farmers that use them, for different farm operations. C. A. Eze (*) Department of Veterinary Surgery, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria e-mail: chinedueze93@yahoo.com S. S. Adamu : M. M. Bukar Department of Veterinary Surgery and Reproduction, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria Trop Anim Health Prod (2012) 44:1953–1956 DOI 10.1007/s11250-012-0162-9