The use of low exothermic-curing dental acrylic to repair turtle shell injuries

This paper describes the use of cold-curing dental acrylic for the repair of shell fractures in a number of species of turtles as an alternative to fibreglass and epoxy resins. Cold-curing dental acrylic minimises the amount of secondary injury induced by the exothermic reactions caused by epoxy resins. Early investigation has shown a good response to this new technique, in at least the medium term. No complications have been seen with this technique so far, but investigation is needed to evaluate its long-term effects.