Giant San Diego panda gets chipped tooth fixed

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Bai Yun, the San Diego Zoo’s giant female panda, has been known to chew on bamboo up to 12 hours a day, so when she chipped a lower tooth, veterinarians had to fix it.

The 23-year-old panda went to the dentist Wednesday, got a shot to make her numb and got the chip repaired, a cleaning and X-rays.

The Los Angeles Times reports (http://lat.ms/1whka7u ) a dental composite was used to fill the damaged tooth.

Bamboo is chewy but to get enough nutrition out of it, a panda has to break it apart and chew a lot.

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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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