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Giant San Diego panda gets chipped tooth fixed

Meg Sutherland Smith, associate director of veterinary services at the San Diego Zoo, uses a light to seal a dental composite during a restorative dental procedure on giant panda Bai Yun at the San Diego Zoo Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014. The dental procedure was needed after keepers noticed a chip in one of Bai Yun’s lower canines. After a dental exam was performed and X-rays taken, the Zoo’s veterinary team proceeded to repair the chipped tooth on the anesthetized panda. A dental composite was used to fill in the damaged tooth, which was then cured with a light to seal the filling. (AP Photo/San Diego Zoo, Ken Bohn) Meg Sutherland Smith, associate director of veterinary services at the San Diego Zoo, uses a light to seal a dental composite during a restorative dental procedure on giant panda Bai Yun at the San Diego Zoo Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014. The dental procedure was needed after keepers noticed a chip in one of Bai Yun’s lower canines. After a dental exam was performed and X-rays taken, the Zoo’s veterinary team proceeded to repair the chipped tooth on the anesthetized panda. A dental composite was used to fill in the damaged tooth, which was then cured with a light to seal the filling. (AP Photo/San Diego Zoo, Ken Bohn)

By Associated Press September 11, 2014 1 min read

SAN DIEGO (AP) – Bai Yun, the San Diego Zoo’s giant female panda, has been known to chew on bamboo up to 12 hours a day, so when she chipped a lower tooth, veterinarians had to fix it.

The 23-year-old panda went to the dentist Wednesday, got a shot to make her numb and got the chip repaired, a cleaning and X-rays.

The Los Angeles Times reports (http://lat.ms/1whka7u ) a dental composite was used to fill the damaged tooth.

Bamboo is chewy but to get enough nutrition out of it, a panda has to break it apart and chew a lot.

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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com