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Open Wide, Don't Bite!

Dentist Peter Kertesz of London, England, has the wildest patients in the world. On Fridays, after a week of treating humans, Kertesz sees four-legged patients with very large teeth.

Kertesz, 52, belongs to a rare breed of dentists who treat animals, from aardvarks to zebras. It all started when a veterinarian asked the dentist to pull teeth from a domestic cat. "Never again," he thought. But soon he was taking on bigger cats--lions, tigers and jaguars--and then elephants (which have molars the size of bricks), camels, bears, monkeys, wolves and even whales. He has treated about 50 species in all.

Recently he removed an infected tusk from a 5 1/2-ton zoo elephant in Germany. He used a 4 1/4-inch drill bit powered by a 60-pound motor. Drugs keep the animals quiet and pain-free while Kertesz works, along with a team of vets and assistants.

Large animals such as lions are easiest to work with, he says, because there is so much room in their mouths. The toughest patients: insect-eating aardvarks, whose mouths, while long, open only about an inch.

Kertesz has taken his dental skills to eight countries. Most of his work is for zoos, but circuses and veterinary hospitals call him too. Later this year Kertesz will work on Siberian tigers in Russia, an elephant in Spain and a gorilla, a jaguar, badgers, deer and foxes in England.

One bad tooth can keep a beast from hunting, eating and even mating. Kertesz's dental work helps animals live longer and healthier lives. "The mouth is the gateway to the existence of all animals," he says.

Next: Top 5 Most Numerous Types Of Animals