A Multimodal Investigation of a Pink Discoloured Canine Tooth in a Jaguar (Panthera onca): A Clinical, Computed Tomographic, Microstructural, Ultrastructural, and Computer-aided-design/Computer-aided-manufacturing (CAD/CAM) Prosthodontic Reconstruction Study

Raluca Ioana Nedelea^1,2*ADRIAN Florin GAL²Vasile Rus²Marza Sorin Marian²Septimiu Tripon³Georgiana Deak²Mihai Marian Borzan²Gabriel Chișamera⁴Ovidiu Mureșan⁵Răzvan Vicențiu Dumitru⁶Cristinel Cezar Mătură⁷Paul-Stefan Panaitescu⁵Ioan Marcus²

• ¹Other, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
• ²Universitatea de Stiinte Agricole si Medicina Veterinara Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
• ³Electron Microscopy Center “Prof. C. Craciun”, Faculty of Biology & Geology, “Babes-Bolyai” University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
• ⁴Muzeul National de Istorie Naturala Grigore Antipa, Bucharest, Romania
• ⁵Universitatea de Medicina si Farmacie Iuliu Hatieganu, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
• ⁶Dental Technician, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
• ⁷DIVET MEDIC ALL, Bucharest, Romania

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.