Say ooh-ooh ah-ah! Gorilla will get into the dentist’s chair for remedy on agonising tooth abscess

It is a scenario familiar to every dentist: a patient calls in with a throbbing toothache that requires prompt attention. 

What is less normal is for the sufferer to be a 29-stone silverback gorilla.

That, however, was the situation that confronted Professor Katja Koeppel of the University of Pretoria, an expert in wildlife health and senior veterinarian, when she was contacted by Pretoria’s National Zoological Gardens.

Binga, a 23-year-old male western lowland gorilla, had been feeling down in the mouth after refusing oral antibiotics for an abscess discovered in his lower right jaw last month.

With surgical intervention the only option, Koeppel joined a team of six veterinary experts as Binga was put to sleep with a tranquiliser dart before having a molar extracted.

‘This gorilla is 185 kilograms of pure muscle and it can go from knocked out to wide awake in seconds, and you can do nothing to hold it on the table,’ said Kopeppel, who has worked with more than 400 gorillas over the course of her career.

‘That is why I have to make sure I get the anaesthetic exactly right, as if Binga woke up, there is little we could do – which is why a gun team is on full standby.

‘Taking a gorilla to the dentist is very different to a human. When I tranquilised Binga with a shot through the bars of his cage, he charged me at full pelt and stopped a few feet short. I was just praying those bars would hold!’  

Bing, a 29-stone silverback gorilla, was carefully monitored during a two-hour operation to remove a rotten molar that had been causing him distress

Open wide: Binga has his smile restored by Gerhard Steenkamp, a veterinary dentist who also lectures at the University of Pretoria

Professor Katja Koeppel of the University of Pretoria, who has worked with countless animals over the course of her career, was responsible for safely tranquilising Binga 

With Binga out cold, he was conveyed to an operating theatre where Professor Gerhard Steenkamp, a veterinary dentist who also lectures at the University of Pretoria, performed a two-hour operation to restore the silverback’s smile.

Given the inherent risks in anaesthetising a gorilla – a period of unconsciousness lasting longer than two hours is potentially dangerous – close attention was paid to Binga’s wellbeing, including an echocardiogram and advanced ultrasound of his heart.

While animal health is carefully monitored at the zoo, with dental, vision and blood tests routinely conducted as well as heart and abdomen imaging, chest X-rays, and even reproductive assessment, Binga’s obvious pain underlined the need for action. 

‘Gorillas do not display signs of distress in the wild normally, as rivals would consider it a sign of weakness in a dominant male, said Koeppel, who added that it was not unknown for anaesthetised animals to wake up.

‘It is only through regular health checks carried out at the zoos that such conditions in wild animals can be discovered, and then they can be assessed and then treated.

‘Binga is now healthy and pain-free, and has been told to always floss and brush his teeth before bedtime when he goes back to his enclosure.’ 

Binga was born in captivity during a breeding programme at Zurich Zoo in 2001.

While western lowland gorillas are the smallest subspecies of gorilla, they can grow to about 275kg and possess formidable strength.

Question: How do you treat a gorilla at the dentist? Answer: VERY carefully!

Long in the tooth: Binga was carefully monitored during his operation, undergoing an echocardiogram and advanced ultrasound of his heart

Binga was born in captivity during a breeding programme at Zurich Zoo in 2001. He arrived in the South African capital in 2008, following the death of the national zoo’s dominant gorilla

Binga, who was knocked out by a tranquiliser gun, is loaded on to a mobile bed in preparation for surgery. Now that he is out of pain, it is hoped that he will mate

 The primates are nonetheless typically shy and gentle – although they are not slow to bare their fangs, emit menacing roars and charge to within a metre when threatened or cornered.

He arrived in the South African capital in 2008, following the death of the zoo’s dominant gorilla.

‘We are grateful for the veterinary expertise shown and the incredible learning opportunity it gave us,’ said Leslie Mudimeli, executive director of the National Zoological Gardens.

It is now hoped that Binga, who is part of the European Endangered Species Programme, will mate, increasing numbers of the endangered species.