Toothache over for Hamilton Zoo chimpanzee

Chimpanzee Lucifer will be flashing his 'pearly whites' for Hamilton Zoo visitors in no time, after successfully undergoing dental surgery yesterday.

The 20-year-old male chimpanzee is recovering well after having a broken, upper-right canine removed by Auckland veterinary dentist Dr Russell Tucker at 8am yesterday morning.

Hamilton Zoo Director Stephen Standley said it was the first time that a chimp has been removed from the exhibit for treatment in the Zoo's veterinary facility, with the whole process running to plan.

"Our chimpanzees are trained to present parts of their bodies to the bars of their enclosure to enable us to inspect any injuries they may sustain or, in this case, to administer anaesthetics so they can undergo treatment," he said.

"Lucifer was administered an anaesthetic via hand injection to his shoulder and was transferred to our veterinary facility using an ex-ambulance stretcher kindly donated by St John Ambulance. He was then maintained on gaseous anaesthetic for over three hours whilst the veterinary team took x-rays and examined the tooth. Dr Tucker determined that it was not able to be repaired so the tooth was completely removed.

"It was crucial that we had an experienced veterinary dentist carry out this work as the large size of chimpanzee canines, which have a total length of 60mm, meant part of the jawbone needed to be removed to allow access to the tooth roots."

Lucifer returned to the chimpanzee facility at 11.30am yesterday.