Abstract
Wild animals in captivity are prone to developing dental diseases. Pink discoloured canine teeth in jaguars are often seen in wildlife photographs but are rarely reported in the literature, and none have been formally investigated. Within 24 hours post-mortem, the oral cavity of a zoo jaguar was investigated using computed tomography (CT). One pink discoloured canine tooth was atraumatically extracted, fixed and stained for histological and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) examination. The intravitam pink discoloured canine tooth had no periodontal or periapical lesions, and microscopically the dental pulp presented numerous ectatic blood vessels with numerous thrombi that occluded the blood vessels. A high percentage of thrombi presented the retunneling phenomenon. Fluorescence imaging confirmed the presence of haemoglobin in the dentinal tubules. The study, the first of its type, sheds light on an intravitam pink discoloured canine tooth opening, a hitherto unexplored topic in zoo dentistry. For the skull to be accepted into the zoological collection of the National Institute of Biology, the extracted canine tooth had to be replaced by a 1:1 scale prosthodontic reconstruction, macroscopically identical to the natural tooth. Prosthodontic reconstruction was performed using computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technology. The study, the first of its type, investigates an intravitam pink discoloured canine tooth in a jaguar, a hitherto unexplored topic in zoo dentistry, and describes its prosthodontic reconstruction.ic yield of computed tomography versus radiography in canine and feline maxillofacial trauma. J Vet Dent. 2010;27(1):20-28.