The University Libraries and the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine have transformed a collection of horse dental specimens into interactive 3D teaching models that students and anyone interested in equine health can study anytime.

Digital technology helps students explore equine anatomy beyond the classroom.

Open a cabinet in the veterinary college, and you’ll find rows of preserved horse teeth used for teaching and research.

The collection, known as dental clackers, might seem unusual.

But for veterinary students, the specimens provide hands-on learning opportunities to study equine dental anatomy, oral health, and the characteristics veterinarians use to estimate a horse’s age.

Students can now continue studying the collection long after they leave the lab.

For generations, veterinary students have relied on physical dental specimens to study equi…