Here at Craig Donn Dentistry in Cherry Hill, NJ dental implants dentist Dr. Donn and his staff always come by little tidbits of information that involve the world of dentistry. Sometimes we find them in magazines and news articles. Other times, like in the case of this post, questions that are asked by our dental implant patients cause us to do some research which often times reveals some rather interesting information. Again, always about the world of dentistry.
One of the most commonly asked questions our staff members are addressed with is patients seeking tips on how best to care for their teeth and/or dental implants. Of course, there are many ways to care for dental implants however one of the easiest and first methods suggested by our group of dental professionals is that the patient invest in a good toothbrush and maintain their oral hygiene. This particular piece of advice works for patients looking to care for natural teeth and dental implants all at the same time. Your toothbrush is one of the most import tools in the continued all around health of your mouth. We all know this. It’s common knowledge in the dentistry world.
Then, a couple days ago, one patient who was being advised turn to the staff member who was assisting her and asked a question that made our staff member stop dead in her tracks.
“Just where did the toothbrush come from?”
Our staff member stood there for a moment, wracking her brain for an answer. When she realized she had none, it was then that this very same question began to make its rounds throughout the office. By the end of the day, aside from some very well-founded educated guesses, there were no concrete answers. Our staff came to the halting realization that none of us really knew the history or origin of a tool we use every day; the toothbrush.
Seeing as we are a group of dental professionals, this lack in knowledge was clearly something that needed to be mitigated as soon as possible. So we took to the internet, performed some research, found the answers and have brought them back here for you to enjoy as well. Now, if you don’t mind taking a step back in time with us for a moment, we can begin our short little adventure.
It turns out that answering the question of where exactly the first toothbrush came from is a little more complicated than we had initially expected. It also depends on how strict a definition you want to use for what exactly a “toothbrush” is.
Believe it or not, people have been making attempts at cleaning their teeth for thousands of years. In fact, archaeologists have uncovered evidence that suggest people in ancient civilizations were using the frayed ends of twigs to scrub their teeth. If you really wanted to, we suppose you could consider these the first toothbrushes.
However, because a twig was a twig to begin with, we’re not counting it. We wanted to know where and when the first contraption was made, consisting of different parts all brought together for the sole purpose of brushing a person’s teeth.
That contraption can be found about 800 years ago in ancient China. The Chinese were one of the first recorded cultured to actually take pieces of bone or bamboo and carve them into handles. Then thick, coarse hairs which had been gathered from hog’s necks were attached to the ends of these carved handles.
Funny enough, animals hairs stayed the standard for toothbrush bristles until 1939 when an English company by the name of DuPont engineered the first set of nylon bristles. These bristled soon replaces animal hairs as being the standard toothbrush bristle as they were much more effective and durable than animal hair. Those same nylon bristles are the very ones that grace the end of the toothbrush sitting in your bathroom.
We hope you enjoyed this little romp through time as much as we did.
Until next time readers, keep brushing and keep smiling.