We take for granted the plastic and nylon toothbrushes we use every day. Have you ever thought about where they originated? We did a bit of research and here’s what we found:
The earliest use of toothbrushes were found to occur in Africa as early as 1600 B.C.! Some of the original toothbrushes just happened to be found items like tree twigs, bird feathers, small animal bones and porcupine quills. Around this same time, in China, monks started cleaning their teeth with small brushes made of horse-tail hairs which were attached to ox-bone handles. Eventually, the bristle toothbrush spread to Europe during the 17th century. Then around 1780, a prisoner in an England jail, William Addis decided to revise the accepted method of cleaning teeth in his jail, which was at the time, rubbing a rag covered with soot and salt on teeth. He came up with a design that started the conventional toothbrush design of today: a small animal bone with small holes drilled and filled with bristles which were secured with glue.
Now we have all kinds of different toothbrushes including electric spin brushes, interdental toothbrushes and disposable toothbrushes. As always, brush your teeth at least twice daily and make sure to schedule your bi-annual dental cleaning! Your teeth will be happy you did.