Root Canal Anyone?

Tuesday this week was another golden day. This winter has seen a roller coaster ride with temperatures. We have a little snow, some cold but not frigid temps, and then along comes a day like Tuesday--sunny and temps all the way up to 60! Not bad for Northeastern Ohio. And what do you do with a day like that? We went to the zoo!

We soaked up sun and fresh air--as long as we weren't down wind from elephants or camels. As we neared the Sarah Allison Steffee Center for Zoological Medicine building, we decided to stop in and see if there was any special activity going on. Inside there are two exam/operating rooms for the care of the zoo animals. They can be observed through large windows by visitors. This day we were in luck. As we entered, the volunteer at the door informed us that there was a Mandrill monkey having a root canal that we could observe.

More volunteers told us that the eight or so people in the room around the monkey were mostly students from Case Western Reserve University who were studying dentistry. This was an opportunity to practice and observe.

We watched for a bit. The monkey never flinched. Of course if I was knocked out that cold in a dentist chair, I wouldn't flinch either.