Giant panda at San Diego Zoo gets chipped tooth fixed

SAN DIEGO (KABC) -- A 23-year-old giant panda named Bai Yun underwent a dental procedure to fix a chipped tooth Wednesday morning at the San Diego Zoo.

Zoo keepers noticed that Bai Yun, a mother of six, had a chip on a canine in the bottom portion of her mouth. The keepers decided to take her to the zoo's veterinarian to take a closer look.

A chipped tooth isn't uncommon for panda bears because they break apart and chew on bamboo for up to 12 hours each day. The soft tissue inside of the bamboo called culm is what pandas go after and it's the mammal's main source of nutrition. Panda bears can eat as much as 86 pounds of bamboo each day, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

Bai Yun was taken to the San Diego Zoo's Jennings Center for Zoological Medicine and was anesthetized at the giant panda research station.

There Dr. Meg Sutherland-Smith, associate director of veterinary services, conducted a dental exam, took X-rays and photos of Bai Yun's teeth, and performed the restorative procedure on her chipped canine. The tooth was filled with a dental composite, similar to fillings on human teeth.

Sutherland-Smith said the good news is that the pulp canal in the panda's tooth wasn't compromised, which could have led to a much more extensive procedure for Bai Yun.

"What we attempted to do was a restorative procedure to cover up the part of the tooth that was chipped to, hopefully, prevent any further chipping or deterioration," she said.

After her procedure, Bai Yun's teeth were cleaned and she was taken back to her habitat to wake up.

Giant pandas in the U.S. are on a research loan from China, their native home. The San Diego Zoo is one of four in the U.S. to participate in the program. The zoos get to study the critically endangered species up close and help with breeding.

There are only about 1,600 panda bears left in the wild in China and part of the reason for the dwindling species is because of deforestation and the expansion of farming.

City News service contributed to this report.