A ROOIELS CHACMA BABOON – DENTAL HEALTH OBSERVATIONS

OVERVIEW

Rooiels is a small seaside village situated approx. 75 kilometers of Cape Town on the eastern shores of False Bay. Rooiels is home to a troop of about 20 to 25 Chacma baboons.

During one of our many walks through the Rooiels Fynbos we came across an old, partially buried skeleton of a Chacma baboon. With a lot of care, we collected all the bones, skull and were very fortunate, after some serious searching, to find all the baboon's teeth.

The only major bone that was missing was the hip bone. We searched but could not find it.
While assembling the skull and inserting all the teeth in their correct positions, we realized that judging by the size of the canine teeth in both the upper and lower jaw, that we had found the skeleton of a female baboon. There were also some very interesting aspects of the skull, jawbone and teeth that needed much more analysis.
We consulted various medical professionals that gave us some great professional insight, and even though we are not scientists, we believe that we can provide some logical insight and observations regarding the dental health of this female baboon before she died.

SOME DATA THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

Sex of baboon – Female
Estimated age before death – 15 to 20 years
Age of skeleton when discovered – 5 to 10 years

Note : Due to the partial exposure of sections of the skull and teeth to the sun and weather, certain parts of the skull and certain teeth appear whiter than the rest. The whiter sections have been bleached by the sun.

ASSESSMENT OF THE DENTAL HEALTH OF A FEMALE ROOIELS BABOON

BACK TEETH 

A	The LHS  teeth of the upper jawbone appear normal and healthy
B	A badly decayed RHS upper molar (3rd from back) has caused an abscess in the jawbone directly above the decayed tooth. The abscess was so severe that it appears to have perforated the upper jawbone.
C	The upper LHS jawbone appears normal and healthy.
D	The entire RHS of the upper jawbone appears to have been badly affected the abscess in the jawbone directly above the decayed tooth (B). Possibility of serious gum disease also existed.
E	The LHS lower teeth are very badly worn. The LHS lower teeth are also in very poor condition with what appears to have been a traumatic abscess at the back of the LHS lower jawbone. (See later info, pics and comment of observations).  Judging by the amount of wear of the lower LHS teeth, the baboon appears to have preferred to use the LHS of her mouth to chew. The upper LHS teeth are worn but normal and the upper LHS jawbone appears normal.
F	The RHS teeth appear to be worn but are normal except for the item B above.  While the lower jawbone appears reasonably normal, the upper jawbone has been affected by the abscess mentioned in item D above.

FRONT TEETH

It was noted that the upper and lower jaws did not meet  correctly and that the lower jaw was skewed (offset) to the RHS (see view from front)

G LH & G RH	Upper canine teeth. Both G LH & G RH  are in correct position and healthy
H 1 to 4	4 upper incisors in correct position and healthy
J LH & J RH	Lower canine teeth. J LH is longer than its upper opposite canine due to the baboon having a bottom jaw bone that was skewed to the RHS. This tooth is therefore longer due to no wearing or grinding with opposite upper teeth (see view from front).
K 1 to 4	4 lower incisor teeth with K 4 skewed to the RHS and longer due to no wearing or grinding with opposing upper teeth (see view from front).

LOWER JAWBONE AND TEETH

When we compared the RHS lower jaw to the LHS lower jaw we found some serious differences.

L	The LHS rear teeth are very badly decayed (see item Q below for more detail). A serious abscess formed (Item N). This abscess became very large and eventually extended into the rear section of the LHS jawbone as indicated as item N in the below images.
M	The RHS lower jaw rear teeth are worn but healthy (See item R in below images).
N	This shows the abscess in the LHS jawbone extending into the rear section of the jawbone.
O	The RHS rear jawbone section is normal.
P	This rear section of the LHS lower jawbone appears to have been the only section of the LHS lower jawbone that was not damaged by the abscess. This section appears to have finally broken shortly before the baboon died. When this section of the jawbone broke it did not allow the baboon to chew or eat.

Q

The LHS lower back teeth are both decayed and badly worn down. It appears that even though the baboon had a very serious abscess at the tooth that extended into the jawbone, she preferred to chew on this side of her mouth. If we look at the below image that indicates the damage to the opening for the LHS lower jaw nerve entry point (item T below) and the abscess trauma below it in the rear jaw bone, it is possible that the bottom LHS jawbone and teeth were numb, without any feeling or pain sensation.

R

The RHS lower teeth are worn but normal and without any sign of decay. Likewise, the RHS lower jawbone is normal.

S	This opening is the entry point for the nerve that goes to the RHS lower jawbone, rear jawbone and teeth. The RHS rear jawbone is normal.
T	The opening for the LHS entry point for the nerve is restricted and damaged. Due to the abscess damage to the rear section of the LHS lower jawbone there is also no route or path for the nerve into the lower section of the jawbone below the LHS teeth. It therefore appears that the LHS rear teeth and lower jawbone had very little feeling or pain sensitivity.

SUMMARY

This female baboon appears to have lived in Rooiels for many years. Her dental condition was not good towards the end of her life. Without scientific research, one can only speculate the reason why. For some interesting reading, click here about research done elsewhere in Africa. Periodontal Health in Free-Ranging Baboons of Ethiopia and Kenya from the AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 90:359-371 (1993).

Graham McCleland