Hide! The Tiger's Mouth is Open Wide! by Adam Frost

Author:Adam Frost
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2013-05-31T04:00:00+00:00

Dr Sharp tapped and scraped with a long metal tool.

‘A tiger’s back teeth are called carnassials. They’re very strong and very sharp. They’re not round and flat like our molars because tigers don’t really chew as such. They just tear meat off and swallow.’

Dr Sharp nodded at Violet. ‘All fine there. Let’s take a closer look at that upper canine.’

He lifted Ziggy’s upper lip.

‘Now, a tiger’s canines are the longest of any cat,’ Dr Sharp continued. ‘Longer than a lion’s, longer than a jaguar’s. They’re about fifteen centimetres, and their roots go right up into the tiger’s skull.’

Violet whispered something to Dr Sharp and he nodded.

‘That’s true, the clouded leopard’s tigers are longer in relation to its body size,’ he said. ‘Good point, Violet.’

He peered underneath Ziggy’s lip and inspected his gums.

‘The thing is though,’ said Dr Sharp, ‘tigers’ teeth aren’t so different to ours. They get plaque like we do. They can need fillings too. And, as in this case, they can also get infections.’

Tom looked at Sophie with a worried expression. An infection sounded bad.

‘The infection has spread into his gum and, if we don’t intervene, it could spread through his whole body and make him very sick indeed,’ Dr Sharp said.

Sophie looked back at Tom, also worried.

‘So at least we know he’s got an infected canine. What’s the plan?’ Mrs Nightingale asked.

‘A pretty basic procedure,’ replied Violet. ‘It’s called root canal work.’

‘Oh, OK,’ Mrs Nightingale said, nodding. ‘You did that to me last year.’

‘What that means,’ said Violet, glancing up at Tom and Sophie through the glass, ‘is that we’ll remove the pulp in the centre of Ziggy’s canine. All mammals – humans included – have pulp tissue down the inside of each of their teeth. It supplies the tooth with nutrients and helps with feeling and sensation. But sometimes this pulp gets infected. Bacteria spreads through the tooth, killing the pulp tissue. So we have to clean the pulp out and replace it. That way, the tooth can survive for another ten years or more.’

Dr Sharp was holding a metal tool with a long needle on the end.

‘Ready, Violet?’ he asked.

Violet nodded.

Dr Sharp started by hollowing out the end of Ziggy’s canine with the needle. Then he took a long thin tube and threaded it up the centre of the tooth. He kept passing it further and further up.

‘When’s he going to get to the end?’ Tom asked.

Sophie shrugged. ‘He said it was a really long tooth.’

Finally Dr Sharp stopped pushing and wiggled the tube around to remove all of the infected pulp.

A few minutes later, Dr Sharp stood aside and Violet moved in, filling the centre of the tooth with a greyish material. Throughout, Ziggy looked peaceful and oblivious, his gigantic tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth and resting on the operating table.

‘OK, let’s put the crown on,’ said Dr Sharp.

‘A crown?’ Tom whispered to Sophie, pointing at his head

‘Not that kind of crown, you dingbat,’ Sophie said. ‘A crown for his tooth.

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