Nate Calvin, one of our patients, was consulting with the Birds of Prey Northwest Center in northern Idaho when he approached Capitol Dental looking for advice. Beauty, an Alaskan bald eagle, was missing her beak due to a hunting accident. As a mechanical engineer, Nate thought he could help design a prosthetic beak to help rehabilitate this unfortunate bird.
We knew Beauty would never be returned to the wild. Our goal was to give her a beak that she could use to drink and preen her feathers. We brainstormed several ideas before we narrowed it down to one we thought would be both effective and non-invasive. First, we helped Nate get some accurate impressions of Beauty so he could use his laboratory in Boise, Idaho to fabricated a gold coping which would be bonded to Beauty’s beak. Once this was in place the prosthetic beak could be attached.
Working with Beauty was an experience of a life time. For such a large, wild bird of prey she was surprisingly calm and cooperative. Jane, her handler, was very good at managing the bird while we spent 3 hours fitting and bonding on her prosthetic beak. After looking Beauty in the eye and working so closely for 3 hours, I have a deeper respect and understanding, not to mention awe, for such an amazing creature.
The procedure was a success and Beauty tolerated the prosthetic beak well. Unsure of the type of tissue composing an eagle’s beak, we weren’t surprised when after a couple of weeks the prosthesis came off. We found that the beak actually shed it’s outer layer to which we had successfully bonded the gold coping.
At this point in time, we are consulting with Jane from the Birds of Prey Northwest. We have several different ideas on how to proceed, however, she is the person who will make the final decision for any future prosthetic plans.
This piece written by: Ryan K. Doyle, DDS
Partner and practicing dentist at Capitol Dental