惟口啟羞，The mouth, too shy to open,
亦復含垢。Nonetheless harbours stains,
積垢毀齒，Whose gathering erodes teeth,
大開狗竇。Swinging dog doors wide.[1]
有物拭之，Here is a thing that brushes them
晨興之候。In attendance at the break of dawn,
短小精悍，Small yet sturdy,
誓殲群醜。Sworn to annihilate all things unsightly.
* From Xu Ke 徐珂 (1869-1928) ed., Qing bai leichao 清稗類鈔 (Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1917), vol. 13, 125; for a quick reference, see here.
[1] Goudou 狗竇 (dog door) is a metaphor for the opening in the rows of teeth.
Ivory toothbrush from the Tang Dynasty; in National Museum of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu (https://www.nmtcm.cn/collection_detail/105.html)
A man washing his teeth; detail of the mural painting in Mogao Cave No. 159
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