Sloths have peculiar teeth. They do not possess deciduous teeth but have a single set of high-crowned, open-rooted teeth (Bargo et al. 2006) that grow continuously throughout life, and the lack of a replacement dentition has made it difficult to homologise sloth teeth with those of other mammals.

What are sloth teeth like?

They have relatively few teeth; they lack canines and incisors, and only possess five upper and four lower molars. The uniform peg-like cheek teeth have open roots, that allow for continuous growth. The teeth are used to mash up their food.

How many teeth do sloth have?

Sloths have only 10 upper teeth and 8 lower teeth. The most prominent teeth on a sloth are the two front teeth that they use to bite off their food. Their other teeth are flat and used for grinding up their food (mostly tree leaves)!