3000 to 5000 BC
Egyptians made a dental cream by mixing powdered ashes of oxen hooves with myrrh, burnt eggshells, pumice, and water. They chewed sticks to apply the dental cream.
1000 BC
Persians added burnt shells of snails and oysters along with gypsum, which only the rich were allowed to use.
AD 1
Ancient Romans used powdered mouse brains as toothpaste.
1780
People scrubbed their teeth with a powder that was made of burnt bread.
1824
A dentist named Peabody added soap to toothpaste for added cleanliness.
1892
Dr. Washington Sheffield was the first person to put toothpaste in a collapsible tube.
1914
Fluoride was added to toothpaste.
1987
“Edible” toothpaste was invented. NASA created it so that astronauts could brush their teeth without spitting into zero gravity.
A Brief History of Mouthwash
3000 to 5000 BC
Egyptians used many products to freshen their breath. Recipes have survived for chewable tablets made of dried myrrh, mastic, cypress grass, and lily, which were finely ground, mixed with honey, heated, and dried in balls.
AD 1
The Romans bought bottled Portuguese urine to purge bacteria from the mouth. They believed the presence of ammonia in urine aided in disinfection and could whiten teeth. Urine remained an ingredient in mouthwash until the eighteenth century.
AD 23
People swished tortoise blood around in their mouths at least three times a year to prevent toothaches. Goat’s milk was used to maintain good breath, and white wine was used as a rinse.
AD 40 to 90
Dioscorides, a Greek surgeon and physician, recommended that a mixture of the juice and leaves of olives, gum, myrrh, pomegranate, vinegar, and wine could help to fight bad breath.
Twelfth Century
St. Hildegard von Bingen, a German mystic, suggested that swishing pure, cold water around in the mouth could help remove tartar.
Sixteenth Century
Mint and vinegar rinsing solutions were believed to rid the mouth of bad breath and germs during the Middle Ages.
Nineteenth Century
Mouthwashes as we know them today developed in the late 1800s. Alcohol was added to help fight germs and bacteria. One of the most popular mouthwashes today, Listerine, was invented as an antiseptic to clean operating rooms and began to be used to bathe wounds.
1914
Listerine was introduced as a mouthwash that killed germs.
Brief History of Toothpaste