Oral findings of wild Japanese monkeys

Abstract

The incidence and severerity of oral diseases in wild Japanese monkeys have never been adequately documented. A group of wild Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata fuscata) consisting of forty-nine individuals was captured on Shodoshima island and fed on a natural raw diet in a very large open cage for six months before examination. The forty-nine monkeys examined were classified into four groups in respect to dental age. Group I deciduous dentition (0-1 year) 12 animals Group II mixed dentition (1-5 years) 13 animals Group III permanent dentition (5-9 years) 13 animals Group IV permanent dentition (9-23 years) 11 animals The oral condition of these monkeys was investigated as a part of the general physical examination carried by the Japan Monkey Centre. This paper is a part of the comparative study of the oral condition among wild and artificially fed monkeys and the purpose of comparison is to clarify whether artificially produced food has an etiological role in major dental diseases or not. Both tooth and periodontal tissue examination were carried out in this study. P-M-A index, gingival pocket-depth, tooth mobility, calculus and debris indices, tooth caries and so on were investigated and recorded. To tranquillize the animals, a tranquillizing agent (produced by Shionogi Seiyaku) was given before experiments. The results of this study were as follows: