A polar bear at the Alaska Zoo gets a root canal.
Kova , who is nearly four years old, and Cranbeary, almost 24, are best buddies who share an enclosure filled with toys and treats and a large pool where Kova in particular loves to take her morning swim.
But in early summer, keepers noticed Kova seemed a bit under the weather and wasn’t eating as much as usual. “Kova is a very interactive and busy bear and she just seemed kind of off,” Alaska Zoo Curator Sam Lavin said. “She was pawing at her mouth a little bit.”“What we’ve trained her to do is open her mouth and show us her teeth,” Lavin said. “So we asked her for an ‘open’ and she showed us her tooth and we could see that that canine was broken.”Lavin said she wasn’t sure how Kova had broken her tooth or how long she might have been in pain. An X-ray confirmed the diagnosis and pointed to what needed to happen next. “We did consult with a veterinary specialist outside of Alaska, sent him the x-rays, got some good advice, and then we went with a local doctor to do the work,” Lavin said. An endodontist, who normally works on people, and her assistant both volunteered their services, Lavin said, to perform a root canal on the fully sedated 450-pound bear. They were part of a larger team that included zoo vets, technicians and other dentists.“Everybody knew ahead of time what their role was and what to do and where to be, and it was so well planned out and everybody worked so well together,” she said.Months later, Lavin said Kova is feeling so much better. On a lovely September morning, she was in her enclosure showing off her beautiful smile.
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