K9 Cop gets tooth repaired

---

Nero is a police dog for Mercer County Sheriff's Office. His handler is Officer Pat Papero. While doing bite work one day in late September, Nero suffered a bad fracture of his right upper canine tooth. The fracture extended well beneath the gum line. When a police dog loses a canine, it's like an officer losing a hand. Therefore, Nero underwent a periodontal surgery called an apically repositioned flap to explore the fracture and to reposition the gum line to allow a portion of the root to act as crown. After the periodontal surgery was determined to be successful, a root canal therapy was done on the pulp-exposed tooth. A crown preparation was done and detailed impressions were sent to a special laboratory in California to create a full metal jacket. Nero's crown was cemented in place today and he will be apprehending perpetrators very soon!



The fracture extended quite a ways under the gum line so a periodontal surgery called an apically repositioned flap was performed to allow part of the root to act as the new crown. Then a root canal therapy, crown preparation, detailed impressions, temporary crown, and finally cementation of the metal crown. It was a total of three anesthesias.