Manatee Tooth Removal | Lil Joe Goes to the Dentist | Magic of Disney's Animal Kingdom

At the seas with Nemo and friends at Epcot. New faces appear every day, but old friends are never far away, like guest favorite Little Joe. This guy was found alone in the wild as a baby, but the team took him in and gave him the chance to flourish. I love Joe the Manatee. He is one of my favorites. Joe is very charismatic. I think he's very handsome. His face is adorable. He's pretty easy-going. What is not to love about Joe?

But recently there's been a problem. Despite his name, Lil Joe shouldn't be so Lil. Joe's weight is under where we would like it to be, so that's concerning for me. Yesterday, he ate about 30 heads, lettuce, and usually can eat 90. We want to be able to help him, and we can't help him if we don't know what's wrong. If only manatees could communicate with humans. Well, turns out this clever guy kind of can.

Well, Joe started taking both of his pectoral flippers and putting them in his mouth and kind of chewing on them. Sometimes what that behavior tells us is he may be uncomfortable in his mouth? Time for some manatee dentistry. And at this dentist, head protection is a must. Joe may be underweight, but that huge tail still packs a punch. First, I want to put these under his head. An X-ray reveals anything unusual with Joe's mouth.

So what is that? Look at that. Where'd you see this? Yeah. Something doesn't look right. That looks fractured. I can see through the tooth. It shouldn't be able to see through the tooth. It should be pretty solid. There might be an infection in there eating away at the base of the tooth, and that tooth may need to come out. If we've been searching for the reason why he is not eating, that tooth certainly could be it. You can't really force a 2,000-pound animal to open his mouth if he doesn’t want to. So we're going to ask very nicely and hope that he cooperates with us today.

Okay. We're going to think. I wouldn't stick my hands in just any manatee's mouth. I do trust in Joe much more than any other manatee. I can easily move this first molar back and forth with my finger, which means it needs to come out. Last time I felt this, it was not mobile, like this. So this is different. Try and Did you take it out? You got it. I think I got it. I’d say high 5 but, I don't have a hand to spare. It's awesome. Sorry, buddy. Let me have it. Give it to me. I get the forceps.

Oh, my God. They're gone. Oh, my God. I got it. You got it. I got it. It's on my fingers. I'm just trying not to drop it. Don't let it go. Don't drop it when you take it out. Oh. Oh, wow. Gosh, we just pulled that tooth out. Do you want to pull my tooth out? Wow. So I think it was just that one tooth that was giving him trouble. They're made to lose their teeth frequently. Usually, they lose them on their own, and you don't need to go in and pull them out.

If this manatee starts eating, we are throwing a party. Good job, Joe. The next step is to get back in the water and see if he wants to eat. Should be very exciting. So you can do it, big guy.