The toothbrush is a very important item of daily use to maintain oral health. At first glance it seems to be an unexciting topic since we will be talking about a day-to-day item; but have you ever wondered how our ancestors brushed their teeth? Who and how were they invented?
Read on… we are going to tell you the incredible story of its evolution since its invention thousands of years ago and other curiosities.
The toothbrush is an older item than you think. Dates back to 3000 B.C.
The most primitive men used everything from fingernails to plant roots to clean their teeth.
The Egyptians were the first to create this item of oral hygiene, as they were aware of the oral health and of the serious problems that could arise if they did not take care of it. dental clinics. That’s right, in a time as remote as the civilization of the pharaohs.
To assemble their toothbrushes, they used tree twigs, one end of which had to be soft and frayed in order to rub it on their teeth. In this way, they removed the food debris that remained between their teeth.
The Arabs also used this piece called Miswak or Siwakewhich, incredibly, some amateurs do today. Some African and Australian tribes still use them.
Some time later, it was the Chinese who created a brush “somewhat similar” to the one we know today. In the 14th century, the bristles came from the neck of cold climate pigs, therefore, they were strong bristles and these were held by a bamboo stick or even bone.
Some time later, the Chinese toothbrush was brought to Europe by English merchants, where toothbrushing was not a common practice. When it was introduced to the market and to family customs, the bristles were replaced by softer ones made of horse tail hair and even other animals, since the previous ones irritated the gums due to their hardness.
Although this invention brought to Europe had a great impact and changed people’s habits, since they did not have oral hygiene as a routine; some resisted and continued to use toothpicks and feathers to remove food debris.
It was not until nylon was discovered in 1938, which replaced bristles made of animal hair. This great discovery was made by Wallace H. Carothers, who initiated the manufacture of brushes with nylon bristles, like the one we use today. This was called the “miracle brush“.
Over time, brushes were improved in their design and ergonomics with more industrialized materials until they became the wide variety of plastic brushes that we find today in stores.
With technological advances, it has been possible to develop a wide variety of toothbrushes, either by their material, operation, color, comfort, hardness of the bristles, manual, electric, among other features, such as post-surgical toothbrushes, with orthodontic head, interproximal, periodontal, electric and the most ordinary ones.
Now that you know this story, we want to tell you that, although throughout the history of mankind we have been evolving, we must not ignore the consequences that many inventions bring us.
Did you know that a human being uses more than 320 toothbrushes and spends approximately 39 hours brushing his or her teeth in a lifetime? Now let’s think about the amount of toxic waste that has taken a toll on our planet… Let’s not forget the origin of this ingenious device that keeps us healthier. Let’s go back to the
origins
.
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