A turtle with a serious crack in its shell received an unusual treatment at a Florida rehab center.
A boat had struck the hefty 40-pound sea turtle, named Elena, leaving her with a 10-inch-long fracture, ABC News reported. Bette Zirkelbach, manager of the Turtle Hospital wasn't sure how to treat the injury.
"Historically, we have tried different marine epoxies and we haven't had a lot of luck," Zirkelbach told ABC.
Zirkelback wasn't sure what to think when her dentists suggested using a strong type of dental bonding.
"It's a living thing; the outer layer [of the shell] is made of keratin," Zirkelbach said. "[It's] the same thing our fingernails are made out of and it's hard to adhere to."
The dentist, Fred Troxel, use a substance used in denture repairs to secure "two metal orthopedic plates across the split," NBC 6 reported.
Elena the turtle has started eating on her own, which clued her caretakers in that it might be time to work on her split shell. The turtle had been tube fed since she was found on a nearby beach.
"Classically, they (hospital staff) had problems with getting things to adhere to the shell, so as a dentist they were asking me to help them figure out what might be the materials that can do it," Troxel told NBC. "Maybe I had something in my toolbox."
Troxel decided the denture glue was his best bet.
"Modern dentistry is about bonding restorative materials to teeth, which are organic substances," he said. "In this case we are bonding something that's a mechanical device to an organic substance, which is the turtle shell."
Elena is sure to have a long recovery ahead, but was doing "very well" a few weeks after surgery, ABC reported. The turtle is no longer in critical condition.
"I'm certainly going to keep checking on it. If this bond fails, then I'll go to plan B," Troxel told ABC.."We're certainly in uncharted territory here."
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