Dentist mends sea turtle shell
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- Published: Wednesday, 09 October 2013 07:38
- Written by News Editor
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A turtle hospital in the Florida Keys called a local dentist for help to mend a sea turtle's broken shell. The dentist, Fred Troxel, used denture repair adhesive to bond two metal plates across a split in the turtle's shell. A month ago, the turtle had arrived at the turtle hospital with its shell possibly fractured by a passing boat.
Dr Troxel said: "The people from the turtle hospital were using an orthopedic splint. Something that might splint bones and they needed it to adhere to the shell, so I used some of our denture repair resin... something that we might repair a broken denture... it's an acrylic resin.
"Modern dentistry is is about bonding restorative materials to teeth, which are organic substances. So in this case we're bonding something that is a mechanical device to an organic substance, which is the turtle shell," he said.
The turtle was called Elena by the hospital staff. Doctors are optimistic she can one day be released back into the ocean.
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