In this day and age, most people can’t imagine not brushing their teeth each day. While the toothbrush has a long history, it wasn’t used daily in this country until World War II. Recently, electronic toothbrushes that provide timed brushing have gained popularity.
If you trace the history of the toothbrush, it begins with chewing sticks used in Babylonia in 3500 BC. Literature from the Ancient Greeks and Romans even mentions early toothpicks that people chewed on to clean teeth. By 1600 BC, these chew sticks evolved some. One end was soft and almost bristle-like for chewing, and the other end was pointed for cleaning between teeth. Twigs were used from plants and trees that could freshen your breath and mouth.
Early records show the first toothbrush was produced in China, about 1600 AD. William Addis, an English citizen, created the first toothbrush. The English used cattle bones for the base, and the natural bristles were taken from the shoulders and necks of swine. Bristled toothbrushes were widely used in England and Japan by the 1800s.
H. N. Wadsworth is credited as the first American to receive a toothbrush patent. In 1844, Dr. Meyer L. Rhein generated the first toothbrush, and Florence Manufacturing Company started selling toothbrushes in boxes by 1885. Nylon bristles replaced animal hair in 1937. As early as 1939, electric toothbrushes were being produced in Switzerland, billed as a way to get a better cleaning, but they didn’t gain popularity in the United States until the 1960s.
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