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Since the fourth millennium BCE, when urban civilizations first appeared in ancient Mesopotamia, humans have strived to achieve proper dental hygiene. Yet the nylon-bristled toothbrush we use today didn’t come along until the 1930s. For the thousands of years in between, people relied on rudimentary tools that evolved with scientific knowledge and technological advancements over time. Some of the earliest toothbrush predecessors date as far back as 3500 BCE. Here’s a look at how people kept their teeth clean before the modern toothbrush.AdvertisementChew Sticks and ToothpicksSometime around the year 3500 BCE, the ancient Babylonians (located near modern-day Iraq) created a...

A new paper in Molecular Biology and Evolution, published by Oxford Univeristy Press, uncovers well-preserved microbiomes from two 4,000 year old teeth in a limestone cave in Ireland. These contained bacteria that cause gum disease, as well as the first high quality ancient genome from S. mutans, an oral bacterium that is one of the major causes of tooth decay.These discoveries allowed the researchers to assess the impact of past dietary changes on the oral microbiome across millennia, including major changes coinciding with the popularization of sugar and industrialization. The teeth, both derived from the same Bronze Age man, also...

In a new analysis of thousands of teeth from ancient skeletons buried at a site near Naples, Italy, archaeologists have discovered that people were using their mouths to help with their work -- occupations that likely involved processing hemp into string and fabric. We all use our teeth as tools -- to open bottles, hold pieces of paper, or even smoke a pipe. When we do this, we open ourselves up to the possibility of cracking our teeth but also create microscopic grooves and injuries to the enamel surface. Since teeth don't remodel like bones do, these tiny insults remain...

Teeth from long-dead people and animals are divulging the history of modern-day pathogens.Ancient DNA extracted from the teeth of humans who lived long ago is yielding new information about pathogens past and present. In one of the latest studies, researchers uncovered and sequenced ancient herpes genomes for the first time, from the teeth of long-dead Europeans. The strain of herpes virus that causes lip sores in people today — called HSV-1 — was once thought to have emerged in Africa more than 50,000 years ago. But the new data, published in Science Advances on 27 July1, indicate that its origin...

A man with a metal detector searching a freshly plowed carrot field in Switzerland found a large ornate jewelry set dating to the Bronze Age — as well as other surprising items including a bear's tooth, a beaver's tooth and a fossilized shark's tooth, local officials said this week. Franz Zahn made the unusual discovery in August while he was "out and about in a freshly harvested carrot field" in Güttingen, about 50 miles northeast of Zurich, officials from Thurgau Canton said in a Monday news release. Zahn initially found a bronze disc, and immediately realized it was an "extraordinary...

One of the things we probably all hated at one point as a kid was brushing our teeth. Standing in the bathroom while your parent supervises to make sure we are cleaned them properly, it's a hatred that you eventually grow out of when you realise it's important to keep your teeth clean. But for some people, it can become more of an on-going issue for multiple reasons - some of which can't be helped. One of these people was Jay, who went onto Channel 4's Embarrassing Bodies back in 2017 about his teeth, which he admitted he hadn't brushed...

A new method of controlling inflammation and sugar levels for oral and systemic disease prevention using a common diabetes drug has been discovered by a team of researchers. A team of researchers have found new ways of stopping periodontal (gum) disease and potentially reducing the incidence of diabetes and obesity. This new approach focuses on controlling inflammation and sugar levels in both the mouth and body with a common type 2 diabetes drug, Metformin. The only treatment strategy currently available to tackle gum disease is to deep clean the teeth to rid the mouth of bacteria, as well as prescribing...

Researchers in Japan are currently working on a medication that would allow people to grow a new set of teeth, with a clinical trial slated for July 2024.

Could your prescription pills affect the outcome of dental implant surgery? It’s a problem highlighted by a recent study from dentists in Spain. They found that people who were taking antidepressants — specifically, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) — at the time of their surgery, and for at least one year beforehand, had a more than 4.5-fold increased risk of their implants failing. The 170 patients in the study were taking some of the most commonly prescribed SSRIs in the UK, such as citalopram, escitalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, paroxetine and sertraline. A ‘failed’ implant is defined as the implant falling out...

BILD met the village dentist – he disagrees One photo showed a box full of dental crowns, next to it a gas mask. The ministry wrote: "A torture chamber in Pisky-Radkivski. 2 photos. A gas mask placed on the head of a victim who was covered with a smoldering rag and buried alive. And a box of golden dental crowns. A mini-Auschwitz." International media such as the British "Telegraph" took up the untested assumption that the teeth came from Russian torture chambers. "These teeth look like the one from my collection that was looted here," said Sergey (60), whom BILD...

Once again hunters can register their moose online and submit tooth as proof.Moose season is underway this week and hunters are out in big numbers this year.The province issued 5,107 licences for the hunt, which runs until Sept. 24.That's the highest number since 1995. Dwayne Sabine, a biologist with the Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development, said this year's increase was largely due to a drop in hunter success rates. "So essentially we were able to issue a few more licences to harvest the same number of moose that we expected to harvest over the last couple of years,"...

If you thought that preventing gum disease is only to the benefit of your oral hygiene, think again. Gum disease, also called periodontitis, can be a prelude to more serious health problems far beyond your mouth. As it turns out, the health of your gums can dictate long term health from head to toe. Millions of Americans currently suffer from gum disease. Symptoms include swollen, red and tender gums. Gum disease is curable if caught early. Avoiding gum disease is as simple as flossing regularly, brushing your teeth twice a day, using mouthwash, and going for routine check-ups at the...

A dental trend known as 'Turkey teeth' that involves travelling abroad to get drastic cut-price treatment is leaving thousands of Britons facing painful complications. The latest cosmetic fad, made popular by stars like Katie Price and Love Island's Jack Fincham, involves filing down teeth to pegs then replacing them with crowns or veneers.

People with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are prone to tooth decay, and a new study from Rutgers may explain why: Reduced strength and durability of enamel and dentin, the hard substance under enamel that gives structure to teeth. Researchers induced type 1 diabetes in 35 mice and used a Vickers microhardness tester to compare their teeth with those of 35 healthy controls over 28 weeks. Although the two groups started with comparable teeth, enamel grew significantly softer in the diabetic mice after 12 weeks, and the gap continued to widen throughout the study. Significant differences in dentin...

Saskia Ward has wowed TikTok viewers with her unique beauty tip but experts have said it is "pointless" and "dangerous"A woman with a dazzling smile has revealed her unusual trick to keep her teeth pearly white. Saskia Ward, 24, claims that brushing her gnashers with purple shampoo nearly every night leaves them gleaming by the time she wakes up every morning. The nail technician from Manchester shared her beauty tip on TikTok, with the video clocking up more than 100,000 views from stunned app users. The clip has also inspired others to try the hack for themselves, with viewers commenting:...

According to a statement released by the University of Kent, Neanderthal infants may have developed faster than modern human babies, based upon the study of a 120,000-year-old Neanderthal milk tooth discovered in what is now Croatia by an international team of researchers led by Patrick Mahoney of the University of Kent. The enamel that covers baby teeth has lines demarcating enamel produced before and after birth, and the space between the lines indicates how much enamel was grown in a single day, according to prior research. Analysis of the lines in this tooth indicates that the tooth erupted from the...

A Nevada woman has been arrested, accused of burglarizing the dental office where she worked as an assistant and extracting 13 teeth from a patient - despite the fact that she is not a licensed dentist. Laurel Eich, 42, from Reno, was being held in the Washoe County jail on Friday on $20,000 bond. Eich has been charged with two counts of burglary and one count each of grand larceny, conspiracy to commit burglary, and perform surgery on another without a license. She also faces three counts of violation of probation or condition of a suspended sentence. According to the...

Older adults who experience tooth loss are at increased risk for cognitive impairment and dementia, and their risk grows with each tooth lost, a study published Thursday by JAMDA: The Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine found. However, older adults with dentures do not share this increased risk, suggesting that timely treatment with implants may protect against cognitive decline, the researchers said. "Our findings underscore the importance of maintaining good oral health and its role in helping to preserve cognitive function," study co-author Bei Wu said in a press release. "It's important to gain a deeper understanding of the...

False teeth could one day be a thing of the past, thanks to the discovery of an antibody that sparks the regeneration of lost teeth. By inhibiting the action of a gene called USAG-1, the antibody increases the availability of certain growth factors, and could eventually be used to help people grow a new set of pearly whites. Publishing their work in the journal Science Advances, a team of researchers describes how they genetically modified mice to suffer from tooth agenesis, where some teeth fail to develop. Injecting pregnant mice from this line with the USAG-1 antibody, however, resulted in...

“There are huge strides being made in aging biology” that point to ways that we can potentially slow the aging process, says Steele, 35, whose research focuses on the ways that the body ages at a cellular level. “We have loads and loads of different ways in the lab to slow down and reverse this process.”