Dental Students practice on primates at University of Lousiville

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burton117

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Zoo animals get a little dental work
Students planning to work on humans get some practice on other primates

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Cecil, like many 7-year-olds, has to be carried to the dentist: It took three zookeepers and some anesthesia to bring the 130-pound Western Lowland gorilla in for a checkup.

Cecil snoozed as his teeth were cleaned, scraped and examined for problems Wednesday. The treatment Cecil received is part of a course at the University of Louisville that brings in future "people dentists" to examine the zoo's animals.

"We don't know of any other program in this country that's like it," said Dr. Thomas Clark, a dentist and professor at the university who started the course, now in its seventh year. "I guess it's just off-the-wall enough to appeal to people."

Lauren Millican, a 23-year-old dental hygiene student from Lexington, helped prevent the spread of bacteria in Cecil's mouth by scaling, a process in which gum tissue is pulled back and the tooth is scraped.

"I love animals; this is a chance to be up close," Millican said Wednesday.

Many city zoos get help from professionals who volunteer their time to care for animals. Clark, a dentist who works mostly with people, had been doing free dental work on animals at the Louisville Zoo since the late 1970s.

Clark started showing photos of his work with animals to his university students, and many asked if they could tag along on his next zoo trip.

Clark said he saw an opportunity when officials at the zoo asked him how he could do more preventative care, such as annual checkups and cleanings.

The class shows students how the basics they learned in dental school can apply to animals, especially primates such as apes and orangutans.

"We are primates," Clark said. "What we see in these guys is sort of what you'd see in a human."

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Dr. Thomas J. Clark, left, guides University of Louisville Dentistry School seniors Tori Sandoval, center right, and Nicole Gordon, right, through a dental exam on Cecil, a Western Lowland gorilla, as associate vet Zoli Gyimesi watches at the Louisville Zoo in Louisville, Ky., on Wednesday.
 
Cool beans! I know that in the past PennDental had a very good relationship with PennVet in which faculty and students were invited down to perform dental work on animals - the craziest being a dentist performing a root canal on a Bengal tiger (the dentist demanded that it be chained in addition to full sedation). They don't do that much anymore as the vet school now has veterinary dentistry specialty, but the thought of working on an occassional animal (outside of the normal patient pool, that is) is fascinating to me.
 
i think that sounds really cool. i would love to be able to get exposure in something unique like that, so kudos to them
 
I think the "patient" in that picture is now a 3rd year OMFS resident in Shreveport.
 
Dr. Clark was doing zoo dentistry for years... and not just primates. I am glad he is showing the students, I missed seeing Tom when i visited louisville in Nov.

Penn also has been working with their vet school... as have other schools with the connection. When I was at Penn, we had to bring an animal into the old, now closed PGH for treatment... The Vet school now has equipment.
 
I participated in a multi-disciplinary service learning trip to Belize in 2001. Dr. Clark was one of the faculty for the trip. Dr. Clark's project was exotic animal dentristy at the Belize Zoo. His wife Betty was also along for the trip as part of our medical staff (she's an RN and was part of the team that did the hand transplant in Louisville a few years ago). They are both super nice people.
 
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