Nagpur: Pained to see a stray dog in distress after breaking its tooth, a city dentist recently performed a root canal surgery on the canine.Private practitioner Dr Roshan Sakharkar, an alumnus of Government Dental College, performed the surgery on November 1. Dr Sakharkar feeds over 30 stray dogs daily when he also closely observes each stray. “This particular dog had become very aggressive after it broke its tooth. The dog needed root canal treatment,” he said.The dog, which is under observation now, has become calmer, Sakharkar added.The surgery was performed in veterinary surgeon Dr Ashish Holey’s clinic at Chhatrapati Square along with vet Dr Swapnil Nagmote.While root canal treatment on animals is not uncommon, most dentists are not aware of this possibility. The surgery is for humans and animals is the same but with some modifications, claimed Sakharkar.“Since animals use teeth to chew, eat, defend and attack, a toothache can be very painful. The pain in these speechless creatures can be noticed by their changing behaviour, aggressiveness and mood swing. A veterinarian surgeon treats only extreme cases of toothache by opting for tooth extraction. But this can permanently disable the animal. We took a conservative line,” Sakharkar added.The dentist lured the stray dog with chicken pieces placed in a custom-made cage. After the dog entered the cage, it was administered anaesthesia. “Capturing the dog and taking it to the operation table was the most difficult task. The effect of general anaesthesia is limited. So, we completed the entire procedure in an hour and half,” Sakharkar said. The procedure included cleaning of the roots, disinfecting them and then filling it.Veterinarian Dr Shirish Upadhye of MAFSU said, “A root canal surgery was performed first on a white tiger in 1991 in Pune. This incident made it to the textbooks of certain academic sections too. After this, though root canal has been performed several times on animals, it is still rare. Dr Sakharkar has taken step towards a good initiative.”Wildlife conservationist and dentist from Mumbai Dr Sarita Subramaniam, who claims to be the first surgeon in the country to perform root canal surgery on strays, also appreciated Sakharkar’s work. According to Sakharkar, he is the first to perform a root canal on a stray dog.

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