Tusker Undergoes Root Canal Treatment in India

The world’s first root canal surgery was conducted on a live elephant by three Indian dentists from the prestigious PSM Dental College in Thrissur, Kerala.

The doctors, led by Dr CV Pradeep, were contacted by the mahout who revealed that the elephant, 27-year old Devidasan, experienced severe pain for a number of years. The dental team found a 10 cms cavity in one of the tusks and decided to conduct a root canal surgery, an extremely painful treatment where in the pulp of the tooth is cleaned out and the cavity filled.

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No anesthesia was used on the elephant with the dentists conducting the two and a half hour treatment with the mahout alongside to keep the elephant under control. Dr Pradeep revealed that the procedure was the first one to be conducted and added that his team is looking to patent the treatment procedure.

“This is the first surgery of its kind in the world. We are filing a patent for the treatment procedure, there may be some similar cases which need treatment”, he said.

Source-Medindia

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