A brown bear in an American zoo received a new silver-colored canine tooth this week. It is the very first time that such a bear has undergone this procedure.
The six-year-old Tundra, as the brown bear is called, was sedated on Monday and fitted with a new crown. It is the largest dental crown ever made, reports the Lake Superior Zoo in Minnesota on Instagram.
The 360-kilogram Tundra first broke his tooth in 2023. After a successful root canal, the area around the tooth was damaged again. That’s why he received a large, custom-made crown this week to protect the tooth for the rest of his life.
The treatment lasted an hour and was performed by Grace Brown, a veterinary dentist who also performed the root canal on Tundra two years ago. Because Tundra is so large, a member of the armed intervention team had to be present during the procedure, in case the bear woke up.
But according to the zoo, everything went smoothly. Tundra is back in his enclosure and is behaving normally. “There is now a sparkle in his smile,” said Caroline Routley, marketing manager of the zoo.
Tundra and his brother Banks have been living in the zoo since they were three months old. They ended up there after their mother died.
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