ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Anchorage endodontist performed a root canal on a big tooth in a very big patient — a full-grown Siberian tiger.
Dr. Doug Luiten worked on 300-pound Kunali — measuring nearly 7 feet from backside to nose — Thursday at the Alaska Zoo.
"It's the longest tooth I've ever worked on," Luiten said of more than three-inch (8 centimeter) canine.
The zoo had to order some special instruments to accommodate the longer tooth, and even had to modify those during the root canal.
Kunali was not restrained, and didn't wake up during the hour-long procedure thanks to anesthesia administered by Dr. David Brunson, a visiting veterinarian from Madison, Wis.
"He was a good boy, he handled things well," Brunson said.
Hours after the procedure, Alaska Zoo Executive Director Pat Lampi said 7-year-old Kunali was doing fine.
"It couldn't have gone any better today, it was perfect," said Dr. Riley Wilson, the zoo's veterinarian.
The root canal was necessary after Kunali fractured the tooth 4 or 5 years ago, likely when he hit a metal post.
Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Alaska-dentist-performs-root-canal-on-tiger-2229314.php#ixzz1bdoZXJ1Z
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