Why Don’t Animals Have To Brush Their Teeth?

Wake up? Brush your teeth. Going to bed? Brush your teeth. The dental routine of being a human can be a bit monotonous, but it’s an important step towards maintaining a happy mouth. It can be slightly baffling, then, to spot a photo of a bonobo with a seemingly perfect grin. How are wild animals getting away with it as we dutifully march off to our next dental hygienist appointment? Why don’t animals have to brush their teeth?

It's a question that led us to the office of Peter Kertesz, who, as well as seeing human patients, is Dental Consultant to ZSL London Zoo and numerous other wildlife establishments around the world. A quick glance at his website shows Kertesz tending to the teeth of everything from elephants to tigers and dolphins with the help of dental nurse Monika Mazurkiewicz.

We sat down with Kertesz to find out more about what it’s really like doing dentistry on non-human species, and why their days aren’t bookended by scrubbing their mouth bones.