False Tooth For Elephant

False tooth for elephant

A THAI veterinarian claimed to have fitted an ailing elephant with the world's first-ever specially designed false tooth. Somsak Jitniyom said his team had successfully fitted a tooth made of stainless steel, silicone and plastic to a 60-year-old female elephant called Morakot. Somsak said Morakot had lost all of her upper teeth and was slowly starving death, a problem she shares with about 10 to 15 per cent of Thailand's 2,500 endangered domestic elephants.

The cost of the tooth - which is 15cm long and 2.5cm deep - was around 700 baht , he said.

--Daily Gulf News 2004-01-08