Look Ma No Cavities! Shanghai Zoo Hippos Get A Toothbrush

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The hippos at the Shanghai Zoo in China will no longer have any reason to fear a visit from the dentist. That's because the zoo officials have finally built a special four-foot long toothbrush to take care of their pearly whites.

While wild hippos do not need their teeth cleaned because their diet comprises primarily of grass, at the zoo they are fed many different fruits and vegetables, which tend to get stuck inside their teeth and hence require regular cleaning.

The zoo, which encourages the public to watch the teeth cleaning, had hitherto been using brooms to clean out the hippo's ginormous 4 ft-deep mouths that contain a pair of large incisors on each jaw and a row of curved lower canine teeth, which can grow up to three feet and are a coveted source of ivory. No word on whether the hippos use toothpaste or mouthwash though!

sources: telegraph.co.uk, latestchina.com

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118 Comments
  • Cateover 14 years
    That rox
    • goodover 14 years
      jumaga waga
      • sarah bloodover 14 years
        interesting i did not know you can brush a hippos teth
        • no nameover 14 years
          That is ssssssssssssssssssssssssoooooooooooooooooo awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! go hippos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
          • Thaliaover 14 years
            intresting and weird
            • billybobover 14 years
              THAT is SO wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrddddddd
              • no name girlover 14 years
                that must be really weird
                • hello1223over 14 years
                  Very interesting tooth brush....and hippo.
                  • aviannaover 14 years
                    that is gross and down right funny. from Avianna
                    • Personover 14 years
                      Hippo tooth brush? wow. I didn't think they made a toothbrush big enough.