German dentist pulls world's longest known human tooth
October 29, 2019
The Guinness Book of Records has recognized a dentist from Offenbach for pulling a 37-millimeter tooth out of the mouth of a patient who had complained about severe pain.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Max Lukas
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On Tuesday, a dentist from the German city of Offenbach received a certificate from Guinness World Records for pulling the longest known human tooth.
Dr. Max Lukas had extracted the 37.2-millimeter (1.46-inch) giant tooth from a patient in nearby Mainz who sought help in 2018 for severe dental pain.
After pulling the oversized enamel, Lukas spent about a year submitting the necessary paperwork and having the tooth checked before it was listed by Guinness World Records. Almost three-quarters of the tooth's length was the root below the gumline.
Lukas said he would make space in his office for the certificate. "Every dentist in the world will read about this," the daily newspaper Frankfurter Neue Zeitung reported him as saying.
Dentists operate on wild bear in German national park
A team of dental and wildlife experts have spent a day operating on a 250-kilogram brown bear known as Igor. The bear had suffered from tooth decay as a result of spending his early life in a cage.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Hirschberger
Visit to the dentist
Experts were called in to operate on a 250-kilogram (550-pound) brown bear known as Igor in a wildlife park in the eastern German state of Brandenburg.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Hirschberger
Out cold
Specialists anesthetized the bear and raised it onto a makeshift operating table with the help of volunteers.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Hirschberger
Open wide
With Igor's mouth hanging open and tongue drooping out, the dental surgeons went to work on repairing the 21-year-old's infected gums. They used similar tools to those used for human dentistry, only larger.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Hirschberger
Long, aching process
The operation lasted into the afternoon. Another bear was scheduled to undergo a similar operation on Friday, although it had to be postponed.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Hirschberger
Not an uncommon problem
Park manager Julian Dorsch believes the bear's dental problems stemmed from chewing on the iron bars of his cage "out of boredom." Igor spent his early life in captivity.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Hirschberger
Accidental discovery
Experts were initially called to find out why Igor had been walking strangely. While investigating his hip joints, they discovered his tooth decay. Igor is expected to recover from both problems.
