{"id":52987,"date":"2025-04-17T13:53:15","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T13:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/chester-zoo-sloth-has-dental-surgery-to-cure-toothache\/"},"modified":"2025-04-17T13:53:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T13:53:16","slug":"chester-zoo-sloth-has-dental-surgery-to-cure-toothache","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/chester-zoo-sloth-has-dental-surgery-to-cure-toothache\/","title":{"rendered":"Chester Zoo sloth has dental surgery to cure toothache"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Angela Ferguson<\/span><\/p>\n

BBC News, Liverpool<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"ChesterChester Zoo<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Dentist Fiona Beddis said the work was a first for the team and “a step into the unknown”<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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A sloth has had pioneering dental surgery to cure toothache.<\/p>\n

Rico is believed to be the first sloth to undergo such an operation, which was carried out by a team at Chester Zoo working alongside dental experts from Newcastle University.<\/p>\n

The two-toed sloth went under the knife after keepers noticed swellings on the sides of its face, with investigations showing two root abscesses.<\/p>\n

Dentist Fiona Beddis said the university’s team had never carried out the procedure on a sloth so it “really was a step into the unknown, so we are all delighted with the successful outcome”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"ChesterChester Zoo<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Rico is thought to be the first sloth to undergo the operation<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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\"ChesterChester Zoo<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Rico underwent a three-hour operation at Chester Zoo<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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\"ChesterChester Zoo<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The team had to work carefully to carry out the dental work<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Ms Beddis said treating Rico had been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it was “a great privilege to treat such a rare and beautiful animal”. <\/p>\n

Rico, who is 25 years old, had a three-hour operation at Chester Zoo’s animal care centre, with the infected tissue surrounding two of the sloth’s teeth removed.<\/p>\n

Unlike a typical root canal, the dental experts went in through the bottom of Rico’s tooth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Dave Edwards from Newcastle University’s School of Dental Sciences said the surgery involved removing the end of the tooth root and “sealing it with special cement”.<\/p>\n

He said it was “very challenging working on a sloth due to their unique anatomy, but also a very rewarding experience”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The keepers used treats and toys to get Rico into position for some X-rays<\/figcaption><\/p>\n
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Resident zoo vet Charlotte Bentley said the teeth that they operated on were “highly specialised and sharp molars”.<\/p>\n

She said sloths had “very different teeth to humans, which makes dentistry challenging”. <\/p>\n

“Whilst we couldn’t save both teeth, the great news is that since his procedure, the abscesses have not come back, and his latest X-ray shows his filling is still in place,” she added. <\/p>\n

“It’s safe to say that the treatment worked at treating his toothache.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"ChesterChester Zoo<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Zoo staff had to undergo special training to enable them to carry out X-rays on Rico while conscious<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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\"ChesterChester Zoo<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The zoo’s resident vet said sloths had “very different teeth to humans, which makes dentistry challenging”<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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\"ChesterChester Zoo<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Rico has been regularly monitored since the surgery<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Rico, who lives with Tina, a female two-toed sloth, in the zoo’s jaguar house, has been regularly monitored since the surgery.<\/p>\n

Rico’s keeper, Brittany Williams, said “it could be slow progress calling Rico for health checks following the surgery as “he goes at his own pace”, but she added: “I don’t mind working at sloth speed.”<\/p>\n

Two-toed sloths are found across South America, where they face threats including habitat loss, logging and hunting for the illegal wildlife trade. <\/p>\n

Chester Zoo is part of a conservation breeding programme working to safeguard the species across Europe. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Angela Ferguson BBC News, Liverpool Chester Zoo Dentist Fiona Beddis said the work was a first for the team and “a step into the unknown” A sloth has had pioneering dental surgery to cure toothache. Rico is believed to be the first sloth to undergo such an operation, which was carried out by a team […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[47],"tags":[5168,11877,11037,16909,2518,16910,2074],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52987"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52987"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52989,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52987\/revisions\/52989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}