Sunday, December 1, 2013

The Humble Toothbrush Has Come a Long Way

For most people, brushing your teeth means buying an electric or manual toothbrush from your local pharmacy or grocery store, but the modern toothbrush as it is known today wasn’t invented until the late 15th century. This crude, “Toothbrush,” was invented by the Chinese and was made from Siberian wild boar hairs that were attached to bamboo sticks. This toothbrush and variations were used up until the 20th century. It wasn’t until nylon was invented in 1938 that the modern toothbrush made its way into the medicine cabinets of people all over the world.

Oral hygiene has been important for centuries and thanks to archaeologists, it is now known that the toothbrush came in various forms including animal bones, bird feathers, and porcupine quills.

An English gentleman invented the most well known variation of the first Chinese toothbrush in 1780 while serving a prison sentence. Once released he began mass-producing his toothbrushes. After his death, he passed the business on to his son. This first toothbrush company, known as Wisdom Toothbrushes is still operating today and has come a long way since the original bone and horse hair toothbrush.

Archaeologists discovered the first chew sticks in Babylonia dating back to 3500 BC, an Egyptian tomb from 3000 BC, and a Chinese tomb in 1600 BC.

H.N. Wadsworth was granted the first toothbrush patent in 1857, but mass production of the bone handled bore bristle toothbrush did not begin until 1885. Unfortunately, animal bristles retained bacteria, did not dry well, and often fell out.  

Oddly enough daily tooth brushing did not take off in the United States until after the Second World War when the American soldiers were required to brush daily.

Today some people are still using chewing sticks, otherwise known as the Miswak. Made from the Salvadora, Peelu, Arak, or the Persica tree, the twigs are peeled back revealing some of the bark. In fact, the rural South in the United States still uses chew sticks referred to as, “Twig Brushes.” To, “Brush,” all you have to do is chew on the peeled part of the Salvadora twig. The tree, which as you can see is known by different names all over the world has natural antiseptic properties, and according to WHO, the World Health Organization is comparable to commercial anti-plaque and oral disinfectant products.