Before the Toothbrush

Tooth brushes are the most commonly used instrument for oral hygiene. The first toothbrush was not patented until 1857, so how did they get their teeth clean? Obviously from accounts in history of even the wealthiest and most royal of people having brown teeth, that most people didn’t get them all too clean…

Those that tried used the following methods:

Medieval:

·         Rinsing mouth with water to remove gunk from mouth.

·         Rubbing teeth with a clean cloth to wipe tartar buildup and left over food particles from the teeth.

·         Chewing herbs to freshen breath, mint, cloves, cinnamon, sage

·         Using “toothpicks” to clean out the teeth.

·         Mint and vinegar mixture, used to rinse out the mouth.

·         Bay leaves soaked in orange flower water and mixed with musk.

·         “Barbers” would also be used as dentists and would extract teeth that were rotting or bothering a person profusely. They sometimes were able to muck out the junk in teeth and create a filling of sorts.

·         The toothbrush, as it is now known in modern times, was invented in 15th Century China. It was made of animal bone, bamboo and hog hair bristles.

Elizabethan:

·         Rubbing teeth with the ashes of burnt rosemary.

·         Powdered sage rub used to whiten teeth.

·         Vinegar, wine and alum mouthwash

·         After dinner comfits were eaten to freshen breath

Renaissance:

·         The same practices for cleaning were in use, but the “barbers” aka dentists had begun to learn more about dentistry.

·         The first dentures, gold crowns, and porcelain teeth, were constructed in the 1700’s.

·         1790 brought about the dental foot engine, similar to the foot pedal of a spinning wheel, it rotated a drill for cleaning out cavities.

·         The first dental chair was made in the late 1700’s.

·         As the toothbrush was introduced into Europe, new variations were made with softer bristles made from horsehair and feathers.

Regency:

·         They again used the same methods.

·         A letter from Lord Chesterfield to his son urges the use of a sponge and warm water to scrub the teeth each morning.

·         The recommendation of using one’s own urine in France was widely flouted by Fouchard, the French dentist.

·         Gunpowder and alum were also recommended.

·         In the late-1800s, toothbrush products were widespread in America