Pettett Lyndall M, Wilson Gary J, Bird Philip S
School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia.
J Vet Dent. 2025 May 8:8987564251334539. doi: 10.1177/08987564251334539.
Good oral health is important for general well-being and longevity. Two-hundred and ninety-five koalas from free-range and captive colonies were examined to determine their oral health status. Two hundred koalas were classified as free-range, whilst 95 were captive from three separate zoological parks. Observations were made using the Koala Oral Health Chart which results in three major indices: the General Oral Cavity Index (GOCI), Oral Health Index (OHI), and Final OHI (FOHI), which describe the current oral health of the population. Eighty-six percent of the koalas had one oral health problem, with 42% of these koalas classified as old aged. The FOHI average from the whole population was 3.76 (SD 3.19, SE 0.20, median 3.00, range 0.14-15.98) with a high variance in individual indices scores. The frequencies of FOHI scoring also showed significant differences between tooth wear classes (TWC) (= .000), with a sharp increase by TWC 3. This also occurred with the GOCI. The GOCI physical abnormalities were recorded in 141 koalas, with a median of three conditions per koala. Oral Health Index scores were recorded for 219 koalas with the highest of 8.40 in a TWC 7 female. Zoo 3 had significantly healthier oral cavities when the highest FOHI levels of each group was assessed (Zoo 1, 11.42; Zoo 2, 13.40; Zoo 3, 4.13; free-range, 15.98). The FOHI severity levels between free-range and captive koalas based on sex and TWC showed significant variation (sex, = .000; TWC, = .000). This study provides index values that can be used for comparison with other koalas or other species in the future.
良好的口腔健康对总体健康和长寿至关重要。对来自自由放养群体和圈养群体的295只考拉进行了检查，以确定它们的口腔健康状况。200只考拉被归类为自由放养，而95只来自三个不同动物园的圈养考拉。使用考拉口腔健康图表进行观察，该图表得出三个主要指数：总体口腔腔指数（GOCI）、口腔健康指数（OHI）和最终OHI（FOHI），这些指数描述了该群体当前的口腔健康状况。86%的考拉存在一个口腔健康问题，其中42%的考拉被归类为老年。整个群体的FOHI平均值为3.76（标准差3.19，标准误0.20，中位数3.00，范围0.14 - 15.98），个体指数得分差异很大。FOHI评分频率在牙齿磨损等级（TWC）之间也显示出显著差异（= 0.000），在TWC 3时急剧增加。GOCI也是如此。141只考拉记录了GOCI身体异常情况，每只考拉的中位数为三种情况。对219只考拉记录了口腔健康指数得分，在一只TWC 7的雌性考拉中得分最高，为8.40。在评估每组的最高FOHI水平时，动物园3的口腔明显更健康（动物园1，11.42；动物园2，13.40；动物园3，4.13；自由放养，15.98）。基于性别和TWC的自由放养和圈养考拉之间的FOHI严重程度水平显示出显著差异（性别，= 0.000；TWC，= 0.000）。本研究提供的指数值可用于未来与其他考拉或其他物种进行比较。
