Tundra, an 800-pound Alaska brown bear living at the Lake Superior Zoo in Minnesota, now has a smile that literally shines. The 6-year-old bear just received what’s believed to be the largest dental crown ever made—a titanium alloy cap designed to protect a canine tooth he reinjured earlier this year.
“He’s got a little glint in his smile now,” said zoo marketing manager Caroline Routley in an interview with the Associated Press. The crown, silver and custom-made from a wax mold of the damaged tooth, was created by Creature Crowns, a dental specialist in Idaho.
The hour-long procedure was performed by Dr. Grace Brown, a board-certified veterinary dentist who had previously completed a root canal on the same tooth two years ago. After Tundra managed to damage it again (because being an 8-foot bear isn’t gentle on the teeth), Brown knew the next step had to be stronger.
“This is the largest crown ever created in the world,” Brown said, adding that she plans to publish a detailed paper about it in the Journal of Veterinary Dentistry later this year.
Tundra’s dental work came with strict safety protocols. A member of the zoo’s trained armed response team stayed within arm’s reach throughout the procedure—just in case the sedation wore off too soon. Thankfully, the bear stayed completely out for the duration and woke up groggy but fine.
800-pound Bear Gets World’s Biggest Metal Crown
Tundra and his sibling, Banks, have been at the Duluth Zoo since they were just three months old. Their mother was killed in Alaska, and the cubs were relocated to Minnesota for care and rehabilitation. Now fully grown, Tundra towers over most humans and is back to eating normally, though maybe chewing a little more carefully for now.
Other zoos haven’t always had such smooth experiences with large predators under sedation. In 2009, a veterinarian at Henry Doorly Zoo in Nebraska suffered severe arm injuries after accidentally brushing the whiskers of a waking tiger during a routine exam.
In Tundra’s case, everything went according to plan. His shiny new tooth might even be a hit with zoo visitors.
“He’s doing great,” said Routley. “You can see it when he opens his mouth, and it’s actually pretty impressive.”
Big bear. Big smile. Big win for veterinary dentistry.
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