chewing sponge

plural chewing sponges

1. West African EnglishA bunch of twigs (most commonly of Salvadora persica) that were beaten until fibrous used as a traditional product for dental hygiene purposes.

   The woman was vigorously scrubbing her teeth with a piece of chewing sponge.

   1988, Christine Botchway, Spears Down, London and Basingstoke: Macmillan Publishers, →ISBN, page 3

   2 more examples

   Her chores began in the morning with taking to Ewuraba, in a saucer, a piece of chewing sponge dipped in water to soften it somewhat.

   2004, Ebow Daniel, A Tale of Cape Coast, Accra: Woeli Publishing Services, →ISBN, page 26

   But Okonoriyaa continued to uproot the plants for the chewing sponge, and whilst she was in the middle of doing that, she suddenly heard a child crying.

   2012 (September), Seth Kojo Kweij: Some Things You Can’t Restore. In: Johannes Preuss (ed.): Ananse Stories told in Ghana. In: Bea Lundt (ed.): Ananse und andere Erzählungen aus Afrika: Zur narrativen Kultur Afrikas aus deutscher und afrikanischer Perspektive. Berlin: Lit Verlag, published in 2018, page 45