CINCINNATI — Yes. Even hippos need to go to the dentist.
In a newly shared video from the Cincinnati Zoo, Tucker the hippo is showing off his pearly whites in a dental procedure he recently underwent.
Hippo keeper Jenna Wingate spent months training to be able to perform a tusk trim with the 4,500-pound hippo, the zoo said.
You can watch the full video below:
In the video, Wingate explains how one of Tucker's upper teeth is misaligned causing one of his lower tusks to put pressure on his gum.
"If he were a human, he would need braces," Wingate says in the video.
Wingate also specified that this is something normal that could happen in the wild, but since they are able to relieve pressure or some possible pain, they are doing so.
Tucker's tooth is then grinded down, and Wingate explains how the zoo got Tucker used to the grinder for months to get him comfortable.
"We could see that trimming that tusk would alleviate the problem, but that wasn’t something that would be worth the risk of anesthetizing him," Wingate said. "So, we set out to desensitize him to being touched in and around his mouth and then introduced the electric grinder!"
She also said it took a lot of time and patience, but they've been able to remove roughly an inch of his tusk.
Despite Tucker's dentist appointment, he, as well as Bibi, Fiona and Fritz, are still available to see at Hippo Cove daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
