The History of the Toothbrush

March 25, 2011

It’s those simple things we use every day that I often wonder about how they got started. The toothbrush is one of those. There are several schools of thought on it, but you need to look far into the past for the first signs of oral hygiene.
The Chinese were believed to create the first real toothbrush, but it wasn’t much like the ones we use today. Those first toothbrushes, crafted in the 1400s, didn’t use nylon for bristles, or plastic for the handles. Instead, the handles were crafted from bamboo, one of the most readily-available regional plants. Attached to the bamboo handle was a set of bristles, taken from the tough hair of… (Read More)