Need a tic-tac?
A dentist from North Carolina recently traveled all the way to Puerto Rico to perform a dental procedure on a 3,000 lb patient.
For the past 20-years Dr. Mike Loomis has being flying south to treat a 39-year-old male hippo named Tomy.
The Ferr├â┬⌐ zoo’s most popular animal suffers from a malocclusion, which prevents his lower teeth from wearing properly, and they eventually overgrow to the point that they interfere with his eating.
“The first time I performed the dental procedure on Tomy, his teeth had grown through his upper lip, making it very painful for him to chew. He was very thin, and I was concerned about the risk of anesthesia. Since then, the zoo has done a great job of making sure that his teeth are trimmed before they get to that point,”
explained Loomis.
Sounds like Tomy is super lucky to have such a talented friend from the states — even if he’s not more giving with the anesthesia!
[image via Tom Gillespie N.C. Zoo]
