AssetID: 53012439
Headline: Cincinnati Zoo's Hippo Tucker Is Well-Behaved Dental Patient
Caption: **RAW VIDEO** Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden’s hippo Tucker is a surprisingly well-behaved dental patient. Senior keeper Jenna Wingate has worked hard to build trust with Tucker to the extent he participates in his own medical care. The relationship that senior keeper Jenna Wingate has built with Tucker the hippo has helped her relieve dental pain. “Tucker has a misaligned upper tooth that was causing his lower left tusk to put pressure on his upper gum,” said Wingate. “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. So, we set out to desensitize him to being touched in and around his mouth and then introduced the electric grinder!” As you might imagine from your own visits to the dentist, the sound alone was a lot to get used to. Then there was the vibration when the grinder touched his tooth. “It took time and patience, but it has paid off,” said Wingate. “We’ve removed about an inch from the tusk so far!” Tucker is part of Cincinnati Zoo’s famous hippo bloat, with mum Bibi, and the kids, Fiona, and Fritz, attracting fans from around the world.
Keywords: cincinnati zoo,tucker,hippo,hippopotamus,dentistry,teeth,animals,natural world,nature,dentist
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