{"id":25981,"date":"2015-07-08T06:00:21","date_gmt":"2015-07-08T10:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=25981"},"modified":"2015-07-08T12:22:11","modified_gmt":"2015-07-08T16:22:11","slug":"brushing-up-on-the-history-of-the-toothbrush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=25981","title":{"rendered":"Brushing up on the history of the toothbrush"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the simple to the blinged-out wild, 5,000 years of dental health<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

By Dr. Stephanie McGann<\/strong><\/span>, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"UTStephCollogo\"<\/a>The toothbrush we know today has come a long way since it\u2019s humble beginnings. The earliest toothbrushes were used by the Babylonians and Egyptians around 3500 BC.<\/p>\n

It was more of a tooth cleaning stick than a brush as we know it.\u00a0 Small branches of the olive, sassafras or Salvadora persica trees were cut off and ends chewed until the wood fibers from these trees would form a brush of sorts.\u00a0 This bristly stick is called a Miswak and is still used in some areas today. <\/p>\n

In the late 1400\u2019s it believed that bamboo was made into a handle and hog hair used for bristles. This Chinese invention flourished and the Europeans soon adapted it with bird feathers, animal bones and other bristles on bamboo sticks.<\/p>\n

\"addis\"<\/a>The first mass produced toothbrush happened when William Addis, a rag maker, made improvements to the brush. He perfected his design using cow tail hair.\u00a0 William Addis\u2019s inventions and improvements came as inspiration while he was jailed for starting a riot in 1770. During this time he got something stuck in his teeth and needed a way to dislodge it.\u00a0 He eventually mass produced toothbrushes and his company remained a family owned venture until 1996.\u00a0 William Addis is widely considered to be the father of the modern toothbrush.<\/p>\n

Toothbrushes became ornate at the end of the 1700\u2019s. Napoleon used a\u00a0 silver and gold engraved brush. In many antique shops you will find silver plated toothbrushes and ornate brush stands.<\/p>\n

In 1938 our neighbors at the DuPont de Nemours company used their new found nylon polymer to make toothbrush bristles. These nylon bristles were more hygienic and the new product was named \u201cDr. West\u2019s Miracle Brush\u201d.\u00a0 During World War II the brush was tied to a campaign to support our soldiers personal hygiene.<\/p>\n

\"broxo\"<\/a>1960 brought the first electric toothbrush marketed in America. The Broxodent was marketed by the Squibb company for individuals with limited dexterity.\u00a0 It was followed by a number of electric vibrating brushes. These early electric brushes were corded appliances that plugged directly into the electric outlet.<\/p>\n

1992 brought us the sonicare.\u00a0 Sonic technology improves the effectiveness of the electric brush. Around this time rechargeable batteries improved as well.<\/p>\n

Today, the toothbrush has grown up. We have researchers testing the angle of the trim on the bristles. There are toothbrushes that talk to our smart phones. Light up brush handles that encourage children to brush for the full 2 minutes. \u00a0 Brushing too hard? There\u2019s an app for that.\u00a0 Miss a day? You can get a text message reminder.\u00a0 Bored in the morning? Some toothbrushes will play music and sing to you.\u00a0 Need a tutorial on how to brush, checkout the oral-b connected brush.\u00a0 This Bluetooth connected electric toothbrush will work with your smartphone and an interactive connected bathroom mirror to monitor your brushing, remind you of dental visits as well as place your day\u2019s events on a mirror screen.<\/p>\n

For the people who need more, now we have the Reinast Luxury toothbrush, sporting a titanium handle.\u00a0 The impressive $4200.00 manual brush, available in 4 colors, claims to have a trademarked antibacterial coating. The bristles can be replaced \u2013 the first three years of replacements are included. Service packages are available for up bristle replacements after the first three years<\/p>\n

Toothbrushes have gone from sticks of wood and odor and bacterial absorbing hog bristles to the nylon bristles we trust today.\u00a0 The modern electric sonic brushes are a far cry from Dr. Addis\u2019s first real toothbrush.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve come a long way baby!<\/p>\n

Dr. Stephanie McGann, who has more than two decades of dental practice experience, is a resident of the Unionville area and along with her partner, Dr. Marie Scott, operates The Brandywine Smile Center<\/a>, a family-friendly dental practice in Concordville. Dr. McGann has opened a new practice in Valley Township, Rainbow Valley Dental<\/a>. She is a Fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the simple to the blinged-out wild, 5,000 years of dental health By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times The toothbrush we know today has come a long way since it\u2019s humble beginnings. The earliest toothbrushes were used by the Babylonians and Egyptians around 3500 BC. It was more of a tooth cleaning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[245,7],"tags":[404,479,7247],"class_list":["post-25981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-featured","tag-dental-health","tag-history","tag-toothbrush"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25981"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26014,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25981\/revisions\/26014"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}