How people used to brush their teeth. How did our ancestors brush their teeth? Toothbrushes as they were

1 Ancient toothpastes

What kind of compositions have people used as toothpaste! Each era has its own recipes and its own aromas. Most often, toothpaste recipes were developed by clergy, because they were the ones who treated people.

For example, in Ancient Egypt, a mixture of crushed salt, pepper, mint and flowers was used to freshen breath. Or they chewed resin with myrrh. Or they brushed their teeth by mixing vinegar with crushed pumice.

How do you like this composition: ashes of burnt ox offal, crushed eggshells and pumice mixed with myrrh?

In the 1st century AD The Greeks and Romans used turtle blood as toothpaste or rubbed their teeth with the ashes of burned mice.
Several centuries later, the Persians cleaned their teeth with a mixture of powdered deer antlers, snail shells and gypsum.

2 How did they brush their teeth in Rus'?

For some reason, it is believed that before Peter I, teeth were not brushed in Rus', but simply used with special sticks made from oak. And they started cleaning only when Peter I forced the wild boyars to clean their mouths with crushed chalk.

However, since ancient times in Russia, for dental health, they chewed zabrus - a by-product of the life of bees, resin from fruit trees, as well as larch sulfur, which not only perfectly cleaned teeth, but also served as a natural antiseptic. In addition, teeth were cleaned with birch or linden charcoal and whitened with crushed eggshells.

3 How modern pasta originated

In the 19th century, wealthy people in America brushed their teeth with tooth powder. Borax was added to the crushed chalk for foaming and various extracts to freshen breath. Anyone who has ever brushed their teeth with powder knows that scattering it is easier than ever.

In 1873, the Colgate company wanted to solve the problem and began producing toothpaste in jars. But buyers felt that this was also not very convenient, and things didn’t work out.

It was only in 1892 that dentist Washington Sheffield thought of putting toothpaste in a tube. This packaging immediately made the toothpaste popular.
Until World War II, toothpastes contained soap, but later it was replaced by other substances. The most serious discovery was the introduction of fluoride compounds into the paste, which strengthen tooth enamel.

4 About the composition of toothpaste

The main component of any toothpaste was and remains an abrasive. It is he who cleans teeth from plaque. The cheapest pastes still add calcium carbonate, that is, the most common crushed chalk. Chalk is a rough abrasive and greatly harms enamel. The only thing worse than aluminum oxide.

The most modern pastes contain silicon dioxide or sodium bicarbonate - soda, which is considered the most harmless.

Another important component of the paste is an antibacterial substance. Commonly used are triclosan, metrogyl or chlorhexidine, which kill microorganisms in the mouth. True, this also kills beneficial microflora.
When choosing a paste, you should also pay attention to the calcium content. The fact is that calcium carbonate does not dissolve and does not affect the enamel. It is better if the paste contains calcium glycerophosphate.

5 About fluoride - with respect

Most toothpastes contain fluoride, which, in fact, is a strong poison, but in small quantities it perfectly mineralizes tooth enamel. The daily human need for fluoride is 2-3 mg per day. A person receives a third of the daily dose from food and two thirds from water. Fluoride is found in fish, tea, and apples.
Fluoride paste first appeared in 1956. How does fluoride work? Fluoride ions settle on the surface of the teeth and form a solid compound with calcium - fluorapatite, which is harder than tooth tissue. In addition, fluorides prevent bacteria from synthesizing acid from sugars, which destroys enamel.

Most often, inexpensive monofluorophosphate and sodium fluoride or tin fluoride are used in pastes. Less commonly used is a substance that is considered the best for enamel - amino fluoride. The presence of fluoride in toothpaste indicates that it does not contain chalk, because fluoride and chalk are incompatible. Fluorine will simply precipitate.
In Russia there are regions with excess fluorine in water, and there are fluoride-deficient regions.
The Moscow, Tver, Tambov regions, the Urals and Western Siberia are considered regions with high levels of fluoride in water. In the Moscow region there is a lot of fluorine in the water of Zelenograd, in the Odintsovo, Krasnogorsk, Kolomensky and Ramensky districts. We must remember that there is more fluorine in artesian water than in river water.

Excess fluoride causes cracks, chalky and pigment spots to appear on tooth enamel, and teeth turn yellow. A person experiences brain damage, decreased immunity, premature aging of the body and destruction of bones.
If you don’t know what region you live in, dentists advise you to change your toothpaste more often and use different toothpastes in the morning and evening.

6 The most expensive toothpaste

One tube of the most expensive Theodent toothpaste costs $100. Manufacturers believe that what makes the paste unique is the innovative substance “rennou”, which is made from cocoa beans and is an alternative to fluoride. This substance creates a second layer of strong enamel on the teeth. Moreover, the paste is absolutely safe.

7 Unusual toothpastes

Toothpastes are designed for different consumers, including children and eccentrics. For example, in the USA there is a bacon-flavored pasta whose advertising promises that you will smell like bacon for a full 6 hours. There is a paste for true connoisseurs of alcohol - its main ingredient is scotch or bourbon. There is a champagne-flavored paste.

In France, there is a blood-red toothpaste that contains licorice, cloves and mint. Charcoal paste is still produced in Japan and is in great demand in Korea.

In the Philippines, they released a chocolate-flavored paste, and in Europe and the United States there is an ice cream-flavored children's paste.

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History of teeth brushing.

Animals living on the planet, in order to preserve their teeth, gnaw tree branches, also use apples and carrots, and thereby cleanse their teeth of food debris.
There is only one creature - a person, who is created by nature in such a way that he must independently care for the oral cavity and his teeth.

There is an assumption that primitive people began to monitor the condition of their teeth. For this purpose, they used tree resin and beeswax. This is only the opinion of historians, for which there is no evidence yet. History has preserved the first mentions that the ancient Egyptians already used primitive toothbrushes - a chewed branch of the arak tree. This toothbrush was a small brush that was used to clean food debris from the teeth.

During archaeological excavations in Egypt, historians found ancient Egyptian writings that contain a description of the composition of the first tooth powder in human history. The ancient Egyptians used eggshells, pumice and the ashes of animal entrails to make the powder.
Ancient Indians used the ashes of cattle horns, charcoal, resin and plant roots.
Residents of medieval Europe differed in the matter of caring for their teeth. In European countries at that time they were sure that having beautiful teeth was bad manners and the owner of beautiful, snow-white teeth was considered a person of low class.

This attitude towards the oral cavity has led to dental diseases.
IN XVIII century in France, the doctor Pierre Fauchard began treating the teeth of the first persons of the state. To prevent tooth damage, the doctor suggested that his patients brush their teeth with a sea sponge. This is how the first doctors appeared in Europe who were specialists in dental diseases (dentists).
In Russia, taking care of the condition of teeth began from the time of Peter I. The Tsar recommended using chalk and charcoal to preserve the integrity of teeth, and wiping teeth with a damp cloth after a meal.

Over time in XIX century, attitudes towards oral health throughout Europe have changed dramatically. Tooth powder appeared, which originally had the composition of soap shavings, mint and chalk. In parallel with this invention, the first toothbrushes appeared. They looked like a long bone stick with a tuft of pork bristles at the end.

But the powder was inconvenient to use. Doctors and dentists developed and offered to the American company Colgate in 1874 year to make toothpaste. The paste quickly gained popularity among consumers. And in 1896 In 2010, the company began producing toothpastes in tubes, the composition of which was constantly changing with the development of the chemical industry. Now this world-famous company supplies a variety of toothpastes using fluoride compounds to many countries around the world.

It is difficult to imagine that such personal hygiene products as toothpaste and toothbrush once did not exist at all. After all, every morning you and I spend a few minutes in the company of this substance, which has foaming, cleaning and refreshing properties. Today it dawned on me, and I decided to explore the Internet to find out more about how humanity cared for its teeth before and how it came to the invention of toothpaste.

It turns out that man is the only creature on the entire planet who needs to take special care of his teeth. This is due to the majority of synthetic products in the diet. Animals cope with the problem of healthy teeth more easily - they chew and gnaw grass and tree branches, apples, carrots to get rid of food debris between their teeth.

At the origins (5000-3000 BC)

Historians suggest that primitive people began to take care of their oral cavity in prehistoric times. They chewed tree resin and beeswax - primitive, but cleansing. There is no reliable confirmation of this yet. Researchers find the first written mentions of oral care already in Ancient Egypt. The first toothbrush used was a thin branch of a misiwak tree chewed at the end. It turned out to be a small brush, which the ancients used to clean out leftover food from the spaces between teeth.

In one of the ancient Egyptian manuscripts, scientists deciphered... the recipe for the first toothpaste (or rather, powder for cleaning teeth)! These include the ashes of burnt ox entrails, myrrh, crushed pumice and eggshells. According to another recipe, the powder consisted of crushed frankincense, myrrh, mastic tree branches, crushed raisins and ram's horn powder. The first tooth powders had one significant drawback - an excess of abrasive (cleaning) substances that damaged tooth enamel. Thus, the need for a new invention, safer for dental health, has become urgent.

In ancient India, they took special care of their teeth, because Buddha himself spoke about this. The ashes of burnt horns and hooves of cattle were used as a cleaning agent. Remains of food and plaque were cleaned out with toothpicks and special scrapers for the tongue and inner surface of the cheeks.

The ancient inhabitants of the Mediterranean, the Romans and Greeks, pioneered dental treatment, and Hippocrates makes the first description of oral diseases. To remove diseased teeth, a special lead instrument was used, and the oral cavity was rinsed with sea water and wine.

Our millennium

Medieval Europe distinguished itself. Back then, having beautiful, pearly white, healthy teeth was considered... bad form. Aristocrats deliberately filed down healthy teeth almost to the gums and were proud of their toothless mouths. Healthy teeth indicated the low origin of their owners, who, by the way, for the most part took care of their teeth.

17th century Tsar Peter I begins to worry about the condition of the teeth of his own boyars. He recommends that they use a toothpick, chew charcoal and chalk, and wipe their teeth with a damp cloth.

XVIII century. A tooth powder very similar to what we are familiar with from Soviet times is appearing in the UK. It was based on soap shavings, crushed chalk and mint. This mixture for cleaning teeth was the privilege of the upper strata of the population; it was applied to the enamel using a toothbrush, similar to a modern one. Only the brush had a bone handle and a tuft of thick pig bristles at the end. The poor continued to use ash and charcoal applied to their fingers.

XIX century. Europeans are starting to consume sugar and worry about fresh breath. New dental care products must not only thoroughly remove plaque, but also be scented to eliminate bad breath. Peppermint oil is used for this. At the same time, borax (a natural detergent with a foaming effect) and glycerin are added to the tooth powder.

The tooth powder seemed to have a pleasant taste and cleaned well, but it did not cause much delight among consumers. All because of the loose consistency and very inconvenient packaging. At that time, tooth powder was packaged in small paper bags - which was an inconvenience - it was easy to drop it when you were asleep and spill the entire contents. But there was nowhere to go - there were no other options.

The now world famous Colgate company came to the aid of dissatisfied consumers in 1873. She released a liquid version of tooth powder - mint paste - into American markets. But again the buyers were not pleased - it is not very convenient to take it out of a glass jar.

And only in 1892, a certain Washington Sheffield (a dentist by profession) made a revolutionary invention. It was he who first created a folding tube for toothpaste. They say he got the idea from an artist named John Rand. He used primitive tin tubes to store paints.

Since 1896, Colgate has been producing packaged toothpaste in tubes using its own technology, and very soon it is winning customers in America and Europe.

Our time

In the first half of the twentieth century, most toothpastes included soap, eucalyptus oil and mint, strawberry, etc. extracts. The chemical industry grew rapidly after World War II, and soap in toothpaste was replaced by sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium ricinoleate.

In the USSR, tooth powder remained the leader among dental care products, and only in the 50s did toothpaste in domestically produced tubes appear on sale.

In 1956, Proctor & Gamble produces the world's first toothpaste, Crest, containing fluoride compounds (they help strengthen tooth enamel).

By the beginning of the 21st century, several dozen types of toothpastes began to be produced, each with its own characteristics. Some pastes restore enamel, others care for gums, others have a whitening effect... Every consumer will find a product to their taste, fortunately, the choice is quite wide.

It was a discovery for me that the small multi-colored stripes on the tube are not a batch marking. Each color represents the ratio of synthetic compounds and natural plant extracts. Black is 100% chemical, blue is 80% chemical to 20% natural, red is 50% to 50%, and green is 100% natural.

Last time I talked about how they used to wipe their butts.. But there is at least one more hole, the care of which is no less important than the care of the anus..

As you may have guessed, this isoral cavity.. More Mouth, baker.So, in order for the mouth to remain an oral cavity, and not a bread-drinker, you need to watch it!!

When caring for the oral cavity, the main emphasis is on the teeth; the condition of the whole organism depends on their condition!! Teeth can be different... As the song says, “black, old...yellow,” but the worst thing is when they are completely absent.

Well, if now, in the modern world, there are a bunch of different means for caring for teeth, why don’t many people keep them even up to 50??? How did you take care of your teeth before, when there wasn’t even toothpaste? So I decided to find out how they used to care for them...

It turns out that man is the only creature on the entire planet who needs to take special care of his teeth. This is due to the majority of synthetic products in the diet. Animals cope with the problem of healthy teeth more simply - they chew and gnaw grass and tree branches, apples, carrots to get rid of food debris between their teeth.

(5000-3000 BC)

Researchers find the first written mentions of oral care already in Ancient Egypt. The first toothbrush used was a thin branch of a misiwak tree chewed at the end. It turned out to be a small brush, which the ancients used to clean out leftover food from the spaces between teeth.

In one of the ancient Egyptian manuscripts, scientists deciphered... the recipe for the first toothpaste (or rather, powder for cleaning teeth)! These include the ashes of burnt ox entrails, myrrh, crushed pumice and eggshells.
According to another recipe, the powder consisted of crushed frankincense, myrrh, mastic tree branches, crushed raisins and ram's horn powder. The first tooth powders had one significant drawback - an excess of abrasive (cleaning) substances that damaged tooth enamel. Thus, the need for a new invention, safer for dental health, has become urgent.

Our millennium

The first toothbrush made from pig bristles appeared in China around 1498. June 26 is the birthday of the toothbrush. The bristles of a Siberian boar were attached to a bamboo or bone handle.

It wasn't until 1938 that DuPont first replaced animal bristles with synthetic nylon fibers. But the nylon bristles were too hard and hurt my gums. In 1950, this company improved the technology and made nylon hairs softer.

The first electric toothbrush was developed in 1939 in Switzerland, but electric toothbrushes were not sold until the 1960s under the Broxodent brand.

17th century Tsar Peter I begins to worry about the condition of the teeth of his own boyars. He recommends that they use a toothpick, chew charcoal and chalk, and wipe their teeth with a damp cloth.

The now world famous company came to the aid of dissatisfied consumers in 1873 "Colgate". It released a liquid version of tooth powder - mint paste - into American markets. But again the buyers were not pleased - it is not very convenient to take it out of the glass jar.

Despite the well-established opinion that our ancestors did not maintain oral hygiene, this is not entirely true. There were no dentists as such (at best, village blacksmiths pulled teeth), but in Rus' teeth were still cleaned.

Dentistry in KievskayaRus'and in the Moscow Kingdom.

Replacing toothpaste

The oldest “toothpaste” was ordinary charcoal. Linden and birch charcoal were especially popular. The burnt wood of these species was considered the purest and in some ways even fragrant. It was most pleasant to use for cleaning tooth enamel.

The coals were ground into powder, after which they polished their teeth. This product perfectly absorbed food debris, but could leave a black coating on the teeth. For this reason, after brushing, it was necessary to rinse your mouth for a long time and thoroughly.

Already under Peter I, the prototype of modern toothpaste appeared, which was used almost until the 20th century. This is ordinary chalk. It also had to be ground into powder and only then used to clean tooth enamel.

Toothbrushes as they were

A variety of objects have been used to clean teeth since ancient times in Rus'. The main thing is that they are small and thin enough to penetrate the interdental space. At first these were ordinary bunches of grass. Fresh grass was plucked and the teeth were carefully “polished” with it.

Then in Rus' they began to clean their teeth with thin wooden sticks like toothpicks, the ends of feathers, and thin branches of bushes chewed at one end.

During the time of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, special “dental brooms” were already used. They were simple wooden sticks with tufts of horse bristles tied to one end. At the same time, Russians continued to use toothpicks.

Peter I, having introduced the rule of brushing teeth with chalk, ordered the use not of brooms, but of a soft cloth, so that disfiguring scratches would not remain on the enamel after brushing. A small handful of crushed chalk should be applied to a rag soaked in water, and then rubbed on the teeth. This custom stuck for a long time.

In high society, the same irreplaceable wooden toothpicks were also used. They tried to make them from wood of “fragrant” species, for example, spruce. The essential oils contained in such wood had an antibacterial effect in the oral cavity. And only in the 20th century the first specialized tooth powders, pastes and brushes appeared.

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