CGTN
Beixia, a male giant panda born in 2022. /CMG
Chinese specialists have successfully corrected a giant panda's crooked jaw using an orthodontic technique adapted from human treatment, marking the first such procedure performed on a giant panda.
The treatment, jointly carried out by the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and West China Hospital of Stomatology, restored the panda's ability to bite and chew normally. Related research was published in July in The Angle Orthodontist, a leading international orthodontic journal.
Beixia, a male giant panda born in 2022, suffered a jaw injury shortly after birth, and his left forelimb also had to be amputated following irreversible damage. By around three months of age, his lower jaw had begun to deviate to the left, causing milk to leak from his mouth and raising concerns that he could eventually struggle to chew bamboo, posing a serious threat to his survival.
With Beixia's jaw still developing, veterinarians and orthodontists decided to use the panda's natural growth potential to correct the asymmetry. They digitally scanned his mouth and designed a customized fixed appliance using three orthodontic elastic bands to apply...