Posted on 04/21/2018 7:10:12 PM PDT by SamAdams76
Wow, sonic technology to clean our teeth! That's what we have now, and it makes it easy to have cleaner, whiter teeth and healthier gums. The sonic technology drives the bristle tip velocity so that fluids can clean into tight spaces and the gum line. Healthy gums translate to a healthier heart. The toothbrush has come a long way.
But what did people use thousands of years ago before electricity or nylon was invented?
Well the first toothbrush was no doubt the human finger. It is recorded that people used salt, chalk or soot and rubbed it on their teeth with a finger or rag to clean their teeth.
In 3500 BC the Babylonians had "chewsticks" which were basically twigs that were chewed at one end to make "bristles" and left pointed at the other end to act as a kind of toothpick. Twigs were broken from trees with fresh aromas to help with a clean fresh feeling.
In 1223 a Zen master wrote that he observed monks using pieces of ox bone with short horsetail bristles attached.
China in 1498 European travelers could obtain a bristled toothbrush made of bamboo and hog bristles and they brought this invention back to Europe where it quickly caught on.
In 1770 a man named William Addis was incarcerated for rioting and while in jail came up with a bone handled, boar bristled brush he used in his cell. When he was released he started a family business, Wisdom Toothbrushes, that is still producing high quality toothbrushes today. He made a fortune!
Toothbrushes were mass produced in the USA in 1885 and had bone handles with boar hair bristles. These bristles were not sanitary and did not dry quickly. DuPont had produced a nylon bristled brush around 1938 but most Americans were not in the habit of regularly brushing until AFTER World War II. That's right! Soldiers were encouraged to brush regularly and they brought this habit back to their families after the war. The history of the toothbrush is fascinating!
Now we have toothbrushes of every shape and size and technology. They spin they vibrate they massage and whiten. You can have a toothbrush that beeps when you have brushed for 2 minutes or tells your kids "Good Job!" when they are done. Bristle heads are large, small, round and square. There are toothbrushes that cost one dollar or you can pay hundreds.
I figure it was invented by a hillbilly. Anyone else would’ve called it a “teethbrush”.
FACT: The ‘toothbrush’ was invented in the Kensington section of Phila., PA.
You scoundrel!
my dentist says toothbrushes are bad, and toothpaste is worse. they are abrasive, actually damage teeth, & etc.
he preaches a waterpick.
smart guy, but I still brush.
"Hey, nice tooth!!"
My 20 year old Sonicare toothbrush stopped working recently and a new one from Amazon was $25 plus shipping - I paid over $100 for the first one in the late 90’s.
If a tooth falls out in the forest is there a hygienist there to tell you to floss more?
And in Missippi, it’s good when your girl’s teeth are pretty—both of them.
I’d like to learn about toenail and fingernail clippers next!
And for a second date: You’ve got the purdiest tooth I’ve ever come across...
I use a battery powered Oral B, but barely touch my teeth using regular Crest. I spit out the toothpaste, but don’t rinse.
Do you remember how many flavors, styles, types, features, colors, etc toothpaste came in back when that commercial was made?
For all the youngsters here, the answer is ONE. There was toothpaste and that was it!
Then, in 1955, Leonard Marraffino invented striped toothpaste. “Stripe” was the newfangled toothpaste in the early 1960s and we were off to the races. Bernie Sanders continues to be dismayed at our choices today
Mom never buy into fads, least of all with toothpaste. We were a true blue Colgate household!
Oh, alright...
Anyone remember tooth powder? It’s all my grandparents used.
I sure do! We kids used the toothpaste our parents bought, but somehow there was a can of (Colgate?) tooth powder in the house, maybe brought by a visiting relative. I used it a few times and thought it was a novelty.
But then, I grew up on "Bucky Beaver" toothbrushing guides and red disclosure tablets too. :)
Another relative used Ipana toothpaste. I loved the flavor/fragrance of it.
“Another relative used Ipana toothpaste. I loved the flavor/fragrance of it.”
Isn’t there a song about that? The Girl From Ipana.
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