Dentistry at the Wildlife Waystation
The first two projects of the
Peter Emily Foundation
took place at the Wildlife Waystation in Sylmar CA.The first
visit was in September of 2008, and the second was in November
2008.
Myself and Dr. Bannon working on a tiger. The small
camera looking instrument below my right elbow is a
portable dental radiology unit.
This tiger had several canine teeth that needed
root canal therapy. Many of these animals break
off their canine teeth on the metal cages.
Here we are working on a rather massive tiger. Again,
most of the work we did was root canal therapy.
Same tiger, working on the root canal.
We took this picture so someone could get an idea
just how big these creatures paws were. They are really
massive.
A lion almost ready for procedures.
Look at the size of those teeth!
A close up picture of the files used in root canal therapy.
The small white rubber stop on the file indicates the maximum
depth we need to go into the canal to make sure all of the
debris is cleaned out of the canal.
We also worked on a hyena. Note the aluminum foil
"socks". They are placed on the feet to help maintain
body temperature during long procedures.
We did a composite restoration on the maxillary left
canine tooth.
Working on the coyote.
This shows my son Paul, doing some videography on
our first trip to the Waystation. Here we are working
on a coyote.
Resting comfortable after the procedure.
Reading some of the x-rays that come out in digital
format. These are much easier to same, plus the image
can be manipulated to show more or less details as the
image calls for.
Bringing a rather large lion into the work area. Each animal
is weighed when brought to the work area. This lion was 425
pounds.
Same lion in the work area. Look at the size of those paws!!
We were constantly amazed at the size of the paws of these
large felines. This is a comparison of one of the lions with
an average size mans hand. We are small in comparison.
Often in field situations, you have to make due with
alternative work areas. Here we set up an additional
work station in the general radiology area. The crew
at the Wildlife Waystation was very adept at managing
the anesthesia of these animals.
Here is a close up of using endodontic files in cleaning
out the root canal space of this lion.
We performed some procedures on Lancelot Link-
Secret Chimp. You can find some videos of Lancelot
Link on Youtube.com.
This is Lancelot Link now intubated and ready for
the procedure.
Lance needed a retrograde root canal. That is the apex
of the tooth had an abscess around it that was causing
deterioration of the tip of the root. We have to make a
window through the bone arounde the tip, and remove the
diseased end of the tooth, and then do a retrograde filling
of the end of the root canal.
This pictures shows the tooth that has had root canal therapy
and has been "restored". That is we used a composite to fill
in the hole made to gain straight line access to the root
canal. The tip that was broken has also been restored.
This is the crew from the Peter Emily Foundation. Myself
on the left, then Dr. Steve Holmstrom, Dr. Carol Breslin,
and the "Father of Veterinary Dentistry", and founder of the
Peter Emily Foundation, Peter Emily. Before our second trip
to the Waystation, we took an afternoon to visit the
Ronald Reagan library and museum. It is a great place to visit.
Myself and my son Paul watching Dr. Emily put some finishing
touches on a procedure.
This small (only 140 pounds) cat was the last animal that we
did procedures on.
Taking her back in the dark. We finished the procedures about
8:30 that night.
The dental crew enjoying a nice meal at the end
of the project.