Episode 3 - Lumpur the Sumatran Tiger
Lumpur is an eight year old Sumatran tiger who lives at London Zoo. During a previous veterinary procedure, the vets discovered that one of his carnassial (back, slicing) teeth had a cavity and had broken.
Although he was not showing any outward signs of pain, the vets wanted to have a closer look and called in dentist, Peter Kertez, to check Lumpur’s teeth. Peter is a human dentist with a busy London practice, who has had a longstanding interest in and extensive experience of treating wild animals.
Anesthetising a tiger
To prepare Lumpur for his general anaesthetic, he was fasted overnight in preparation for his dental procedure, just like a human would be. Chief Veterinarian, Andrew Routh, used a dart gun to administer the anaesthetic and once Lumpur was safely anaesthetised, he was intubated to keep his airway free, provide oxygen and administer gas anaesthesia.
Meanwhile Peter and his nurse, Tania, set up a field operation table on straw bales in the tiger den. Andrew, together with several keepers, lifted Lumpur out of his back den and carried him through to the operation table.
Extracting a tiger’s tooth
As soon as Lumpur was settled on the field operation table, Peter assessed his broken tooth to determine whether it could be filled or if it had to be extracted. Peter discovered that the cavity extended down into the root of the tooth and decided that extraction was the best course of action.
The carnassial teeth of a carnivore are found on the upper and lower gums, at the back of the mouth, and are specially adapted for tearing flesh apart; they act like a pair of scissors when the carnivore chews. To secure them in the gum, a carnassial tooth has three roots and in order to extract the tooth Peter had to split it into three pieces, having first administered a local anaesthetic to Lumpur’s gum by injection. He then carefully extracted each fragment, ensuring the whole of each root was removed.
Once the tooth was fully removed, Peter sutured over the socket to close the gum and Andrew administered antibiotics and pain relief.
The vets took Lumpur off the anaesthetic machine and together with the keepers carried him back to his den, where he was given an injection to reverse the anaesthetic.
Treatment
The vets administered antibiotics and pain relief to Lumpur via tablets in his food over the next few days. He made a good recovery and was eating meat from the bone after seven days.