Volume 55, Number 1, 85-89, DOI: 10.1007/s10344-008-0218-3

Traumatic injury to the incisive bones and maxillary dentition in a male gray wolf (Canis lupus L.) from Slovakia

Peter Lazar, Dean Konjević, Uwe Kierdorf, Vera Njemirovskij, Jan Čurlík and Marijan Grubešić

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Abstract

The paper presents the skull of a male gray wolf shot in the region of Snina, eastern Slovakia. Age at death of the wolf was estimated at 6 years. The skull was characterized by the almost-complete absence of the alveolar processes of the incisive bones and multiple dental abnormalities that were attributed to a severe trauma. All maxillary incisors and both maxillary first premolars were missing. In addition, both maxillary canines were fractured with only tooth fragments being left. The pulp exposure associated with the crown fractures of the maxillary canines had caused pulp necrosis and periapical lesions, as evidenced on radiographs. The right P2, P3, and P4 were fractured, with only the remaining tooth structure of the second and third premolars being left. In the right P4 and the left M1, periapical bone resorption was diagnosed radiologically. In the mandibular dentition, the right I2 and left P1 had been lost in life. The mandibular canines exhibited distinct wear facets that were caused by contact with the maxillary third incisors, which were subsequently lost. The fact that all fractured teeth showed signs of wear indicates that the trauma had occurred some time before the wolf was shot.

Keywords  Dental abnormalities - Cranial injury - Skull - Trauma - Tooth fracture and loss

Communicated by W. Lutz

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