A dental first helps a giant panda chew normally again

Specialists in China have restored a giant panda’s ability to bite and chew normally using a jaw-correcting technique adapted from treatment for children. The team reports that this is the first time the approach has been used on a giant panda.

Beixia, a male born in 2022, suffered a jaw injury shortly after birth. By about three months old, his lower jaw was shifting to the left. Milk leaked from his mouth, and carers feared he would later struggle to chew bamboo.

Veterinarians at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding worked with experts from West China Hospital of Stomatology. They scanned Beixia’s mouth and designed a custom device with three elastic bands, which applied gentle pulling force to guide his growing jaw towards better alignment.

Treatment took about six months and depended on careful daily attention. Carers removed the bands before each feeding and put them back afterwards, watching closely to prevent them coming loose or being swallowed.

Follow-up examinations found that the jaw’s misalignment had largely been corrected and normal feeding functions restored. Now four, Beixia eats normally and remains active and playful.

The case was published in July in The Angle Orthodontist. The panda base also plans more systematic dental health records and further research into panda dentistry.