The next time you pick up that dental floss,
take a moment to think about how your ancestors brushed and flossed their teeth,
and you will quickly realize just how lucky you are.
According to your Dentist in Rancho Mirage,
ancient civilizations have always taken care of their teeth and gums, but the
methods that they resorted to were often disgusting, and downright painful.
The first tooth whitening methods can be attributed
to the Ancient Egyptians who used wine vinegar mixed with a paste to polish and
whiten teeth. This method was not as bad as the Ancient Romans who were
thoroughly convinced that using their own urine, which contains ammonia, was
the only way to brighten teeth.
Early toothbrushes were actually branches
that had cleansing and antiseptic properties. These twigs were frayed at the
end and used to brush teeth. Known as chew sticks these ancient tools have been
discovered in the tombs of ancient Egyptians and are still used by some civilizations
today. These twigs, or chew sticks, were probably much more hygienic than the
early animal hair toothbrushes that were invented by the Chinese in the 1400’s.
The first toothbrushes were made from boar
hair that was pounded into a piece of wood. Although more stylized than the
first crude boar hairbrushes, this same concept was used up until DuPont
invented the first nylon toothbrush in 1938.
Dental Floss does not have the colorful past
that the toothbrush has. Dental
floss is probably the world’s oldest product as toothpick remnants and dental
floss has been discovered by archaeologists while exploring ancient tombs.
A dentist in New Orleans by the name of Levi
Spear Parmly invented modern Dental floss. Dr. Parmly believed that people
would have better results if silk floss were used to clean teeth. Before 1882,
dental floss was only available at the dentist’s office becoming available to
the public after Johnson and Johnson applied for the patent in 1898.
According to a recent survey, people would
rather go without their television set or the internet instead of dumping their
trusty toothbrush, and your Rancho Mirage Dentist is pretty happy about that. These days you can buy toothbrushes in different sizes and
shapes, but the basic concept remains just as it did when it made its first
appearance thousands of years ago.
