All Creatures Great and Small Need a Good Dentist

Dr. Stephen Juriga, owner of in Oswego, always enjoys his work, but he’ll admit some days are more fun than others, especially when he gets to spend them at the Shedd Aquarium and Brookfield Zoo.

A member of the medical advisory board for both the Shedd and the zoo, Juriga, a board-certified veterinary dentist, volunteers his time to provide dental services for the facilities’ animal collections.

“It’s totally fun,” Juriga said. “You never know what you’re getting into.”

Last week, he and two dental technicians were at the Shedd Aquarium to pull a molar on a sea otter named Kachemak.

And last year, he visited the Shedd to give a sea otter named Kenai a root canal. After the Shedd veterinarians noticed a problem with Kenai’s tooth during an annual physical exam, Juriga, who specializes in endodontal work like root canals, was called in.

“They pay great attention to detail as far as the animals overall health,” Juriga said. “Brookfield Zoo and Shedd Aquarium have staff veterinarians that are brilliant. They make initial diagnoses and treat the simple things. If they find anything not routine, they’ll call in specialists.”

When it comes to dental work, Juriga tries to save the animals’ teeth whenever possible.

“We try to do procedures so animals can function as normally as possible,” he said.

Other animals Juriga has worked on in the past include a gorilla, male African lion, tiger, and a mongoose.

“This mongoose was tiny, about one pound, with a jaw fracture,” Juriga said. “I wired it together and it healed.”

He said doing animal dentistry work is “many times a matter of being able to make good decisions based on the anatomy and function of the tooth.”

Juriga was able to look at a sea otter skull from the Field Museum to help him identify the root depth and length.

“I had very little otter knowledge so I did a little bit of homework before patient was anestatized,” he said.

Juriga enjoys his visits to the Shedd and Brookfield Zoo.

“I’ve been fortunate to be able to hook on with them,” he said.

A story about Kenai the otter's root canal can be found on the Shedd Aquarium's website.