Alaska brown bear has a new, shiny smile after getting a huge metal crown for a canine tooth

An Alaska brown bear at the Lake Superior Zoo in northeastern Minnesota has a gleaming new silver-colored canine tooth in a first-of-its-kind procedure for a bear.

DULUTH, Minn. — An Alaska brown bear at the Lake Superior Zoo in northeastern Minnesota has a gleaming new silver-colored canine tooth in a first-of-its-kind procedure for a bear.

The 800-pound Tundra was put under sedation Monday and fitted with a new crown — the largest dental crown ever created, according to the zoo.

"He's got a little glint in his smile now," zoo marketing manager Caroline Routley said Wednesday.

Tundra, an Alaskan brown bear, in an undated photo.Lake Superior Zoological Society via APThe hour-long procedure was done by Dr. Grace Brown, a board-certified veterinary dentist who helped perform a root canal on the same tooth two years ago. When Tundra reinjured the tooth, the decision was made to give him a new, stronger crown. The titanium alloy crown, made by Creature Crowns of Post Falls, Idaho, was created for Tundra from a wax caste of the tooth.

Brown plans to publish a paper on the procedure in the Journal of Veterinary Dentistry later this year.