Monday, 08 March 2010 12:55

Maria Fernanda used huge tongs to meet their 'wild' patients. 6 men are needed to bring to the table. On average, María Fernanda Restrepo attend four wild animals per year. Most procedures are applied to them duct.

The dentist's fingers are smaller than the canine of any of the four 'special patients' attending on average per year. But none has come to his office, she serves at home in their cages.

 

The last of these patients had a fracture in a tooth that kept him from eating 25 kilos of meat were linked to every other day. It weighed over 200 kilos, and his 18 years as an elder, as their average lifespan is 12.

 

Dental College graduate, his thesis that linked to the world of animals. The work was titled 'Bone regeneration in rabbits from eggshell'. But it continued with little rabbits but, at the point of experience, specializing in animals much larger.

Since his degree in 2002, this young dentist alternating treatment of children, adults, men and women, with attention to tigers, lions, cougars, jaguars, chimpanzees and even a Jabiru, which was rebuilt because the peak of a fracture.

 

"On the occasion of the thesis in Cali Zoo had contact with the veterinarian Delio Orjuela. He said he had some animals to be treated, if I would examine them, and since that time are eight years with cats and other species" , tells Maria Fernanda.

 

The last intervention was in Villa Lorena shelter for abused animals that the teacher Ana Julia Torres got on the Floralia neighborhood in Cali. Their services were required to screen 'Socrates', a Bengal tiger for about 18 years, who arrived donated by a circle, it considered the issue no longer served their shows.

The fractured tooth abscess caused him, even broke his face, which made it fester. Two darts used by the vet sedated him Orjuela. It took six men to mount onto a stretcher and move the operating room.

 

Maria Fernanda had to enforce a huge pincers to extract the piece. For nearly an hour, she kept her hands on the animal's jaws, and although these are alerted when moved a leg, sedatives kept him on the stretcher.

 

Smiling, Restrepo said that, despite the shocks, no animal has bitten, but many patients. "If this were to happen to a cat, damage to the hand would be tremendous. The mere pressure of the jaws can fracture," said the dentist.

 Although there Medellin for a diploma in equine dentistry, Restrepo said he does not know colleagues who treat cats. On average, this woman attends to Year 4 of these animals, and although almost half the country has traveled so far has not been called to serve copies of zoos 'private'.

In most cases, the treatment they need their 'wild' patients is ductwork. But there is no specialization, she resorts to the literature on the subject and share with colleagues via the Internet. He says he also common sense and logic are important, and follow the protocol as being conducted by a person.

From: eltiempo.com

IVAN NOGUERA
TIME CORRESPONDENT
CALI