An Alaska brown bear at the Lake Superior Zoo in northeastern Minnesota flaunted his sparkling smile after going under a first-of-its-kind procedure.
According to the zoo, the 800-pound animal was under sedation on Monday and was fitted with a new crown.
Marketing manager Caroline Routley shared on Wednesday, June 25, "He's got a little glint in his smile now."
The hour-long procedure was performed by Dr. Grace Brown, a board-certified veterinary dentist who helped perform a root canal on the same tooth two years ago.
When Tundra re-injured the tooth, it was decided that he would be given a new and stronger crown.
The titanium alloy crown, made by Creature Crowns of Post Falls, Idaho, was created for the six-year-old bear from a wax cast of the tooth.
Brown plans to publish a paper on the procedure in the Journal of Veterinary Dentistry later this year, as it is the "largest crown ever created in the world."
Thundra and his sibling, Banks, have made the Dublin Zoo their residence since they were three-month-old, after their mother was killed.
Now the bear, who stands about 8 feet tall, went under the procedure without a hitch, and he is reportedly back in his habitat, behaving and eating normally.
