Brush your teeth every day，dentists say．In the south of Africa，some people brush their teeth with sticks first．

They keep a small stick in their mouth to chew （咀嚼） or scrub （洗刷） their teeth all day．People cut the sticks from trees．They are the African toothbrushes．People there are used to brushing their teeth with sticks．

Africans think the sticks work better than toothbrushes．The sticks come from nature，and it is said that there is something special about them．The special thing may stop many kinds of tooth problems．"If you have a bad tooth，it is a medicine，"said Diop，a seller in Africa．

The sticks also cost less than toothbrushes．

In Senegal （塞内加尔），the chewing stick is called"sothio"．It means"to clean"in their language．In east Africa，the stick is called"mswaki"．It's their word for"toothbrush"．

Nowadays，some nice health stores in the United States start to sell chewing sticks．They think that the stick is natural kind of tooth care．

（1）Some people 　　brush their teeth with sticks first according to the passage．

（2）Africans keep 　　in their mouth to chew or scrub their teeth all day．

（3）The sticks 　　than toothbrushes．

（4）"Sothio"means" 　　"in Senegal's language．

（5）The special thing in the sticks may help 　　．